


Applause

by Cyan (vehicroids)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, M/M, Porn With Plot, Pornstars, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-10
Updated: 2018-12-20
Packaged: 2019-03-29 15:43:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 22,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13930191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vehicroids/pseuds/Cyan
Summary: September rolled over, and Lance started a new year in college, which meant a new roommate. He was excited, until it turned out he had been roomed with his favourite porn star; Keith ‘Akira’ Kogane. How was Lance supposed to react to this?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally going to be for... well, for something else. But, I ran out of time to make it work the way I wanted to, became too ambitious (with the initial thing hitting... well, over 100 pages). So I decided, hey, why not make it a standalone fic? With the first three chapters done, and a sporadic posting schedule, I figured I can make this work as (another) side project. Aw yeah. B)
> 
> I may... or may not have fucked up posting this initally. So I deleted it and reposted it lmao sorry
> 
> Special thanks to [Spenser](http://twunkadelia.tumblr.com)!! Without him, this AU would've never been a reality. I love him, and y'all need to check him out.
> 
> Don't forget to check me out on [Tumblr](https://vehicroids.tumblr.com)!

“Are you sure you don’t need anything else?” Lance’s mom asked, putting down the last box on his bed.

“Mom, _please_ , I’m fine” Lance groaned. She was always so protective of him, and yes it was sweet, but it was also rather annoying, sometimes. No one else’s mom was like this, especially not in their second year. He was nineteen, not nine.

She pulled him into a tight, squeezing hug, rocking him gently. “I’m gonna miss you, baby. I’ll see you for Thanksgiving, okay?”

She pulled away, cupping his face and kissing his cheeks, much to Lance’s dismay. Aw man, why was his mom like this? Still, he was lucky to have someone like her in his life. She said her goodbyes and left, leaving Lance alone with all of these boxes to unpack.

Okay, it wasn't many. Mostly a couple of trinkets, his games console and games, and a little TV. He also had a large suitcase full of clothes but, when he looked at it, he groaned. He was by no means messy, but he had sort of shoved everything into the case in a mad rush the night before. Admittedly, not his best plan, but he had forgotten beforehand, and he didn't really want to screw his clothes up into a drawer.

With most of his stuff away - the clothes could wait - Lance sat down on the bed, legs crossed. He pursed his lips, considering his options. Did he have time to jack off before his roommate turned up? No, probably not, and it would add to the thrill if it wasn't a first impression. Lance wanted to be known for a lot of things, but masturbating on the first day in front of his roommate was not one of them. Unless the guy was up for it. Jesus, Lance, stop.

Instead, he idly surfed the internet, checking Facebook. Aw man, his mom was tagging him in memes already, usually accompanied with minions. Why was she like this? Alright, that's enough of Facebook, he grumbled, about to switch to another site. The door opened and, immediately, Lance looked up with an excited grin.

But the grin was quick to falter. No, it wasn't because the first person he saw was an older man, but because of the young man - presumably his son - behind him. He was so pretty, soft black hair framing his beautiful face, and gorgeous, piercing violet eyes. Why did Lance know him? It hit him, a sucker punch to the gut.

 _Akira_.

“Uh-” Lance closed his laptop. Breathe, McClain, be a normal person. Don't be suspicious. “I'm Lance, and it's cool to meet you, but I just remembered I've gotta go.”

Before he could get a response from Akira, Lance quickly bolted from the room. Now, he was well aware that wouldn't be the guy's real name but, until he knew what it was, it was Akira. But there was no way he could go back into that room, with that guy.

Lance wished could say it was simply a guy he hated in high school. He wished it was so simple. He rose his hands to his face, taking a deep breath, and it was hard to admit it to himself. Akira was an amateur porn star, but not just anyone; he was Lance's favourite.

There was something cinematic about his porn. His camera angles were gorgeous, the lighting, the way he captured emotion, _damn_. Akira’s porn was an experience, something to behold. And, it was hot, which helped. Everything about his videos were perfect, and he had a decent following, and Lance counted himself among them.

This wasn't just luck, this was God appearing to him, showing him that his masturbation habits had consequences. Lance could have screamed were he not in the middle of campus, but he did have an idea. He pulled out his phone, pressed Hunk's number and called. _Come on, come on_ -

“Lance?” Lance felt sweet relief hearing his best friend, Hunk, on the other end. “You okay? You never call unless it's important.”

“You busy? I need to talk,” Lance mumbled.

Hunk hummed on the other end. “No. Meet me in the usual place.”

Lance always laughed at that - it made it sound like it was a big secret location. Instead, it was just a coffee shop not far from campus where they would meet up to study or hang out. He hung up and made his way to the coffee shop, already debating on his coffee order. He needed it _strong_ after today.

He arrived at _Vrepit Sal’s_ \- odd name for a coffee place, but whatever - and was greeted by the usual grumpy barista. Still, after coming here almost daily for a year, he was slightly less grumpy with Lance. He ordered a caramel latte, and once he had his drink and paid, he scanned the room. Ah, there was Hunk.

Lance plonked himself down and Hunk smiled at him, until he saw the look on his best friend's face. He frowned, offering him a piece of shortbread he had ordered. What did Lance do to deserve such a good friend, honestly? He smiled, though it felt and looked fake.

“Akira,” Lance mumbled, taking a bite of shortbread.

Of course Hunk knew that name; they shared everything together. He frowned. “What? Did he quit doing porn?” his voice was quiet, aware they weren't alone, shooting glances around to make sure no one had heard that. This was hardly the location to talk about it, but Lance wasn't known for his class.

“No, but I'm not sure if that's better or worse.” Lance ran a hand through his hair, sucking his breath. “No. Akira is my roommate.”

Hunk was mid swig of his drink when Lance dropped that, and he choked, trying not to spray his drink everywhere. At least Lance wasn't the only one surprised by this. Hunk punched his chest, calming his lungs down before taking a deep breath. Lance felt bad about it, but he needed to tell _someone_.

“What're you gonna do, man? That's not a good situation. Like, that's the worst situation I can imagine. Are you gonna ask for a switch?”

“I mean, I'm thinking about it.” Lance poked at his drink with a spoon with a sigh. “But that makes it weird, right? And it makes it super obvious I know something.”

God, the last thing he wanted to do was piss Akira off, of all people. Then again, he wanted those eyes on him, even if it was in anger-- Lance, knock it off. He was a mess, and he knew he would have to go home eventually. He just wasn’t sure how he was going to face Akira in a normal way, without making it obvious that something was wrong.

Lance groaned, burying his head in his arms. What was he going to do? Sit in a weird coffee shop and groan, he supposed. Hunk patted his back softly, but that did nothing to soothe him. He groaned louder, face falling to hit the table.

“Think of the positives, dude. It's like being behind the scenes of a movie,” Hunk tried, rubbing his back.

Lance peeked up at him. “Except the set is now my room, and I have to look him in the eye without getting a boner. Which, by the way? It's hard, and I'm not just talking about my dick.”

Hunk just laughed, while Lance went back to groaning in his little hole. He needed to quiet his mind, but this was Lance. His mind wouldn't stop screaming and yelling and panicking and _ugh_. Finally, he went quiet. He sighed, resigning to his fate. How many times had he face planted the tables in this place? Too many to count.

“Why is my love life so terrible?” Lance grumbled.

“Buddy. I don't think living with a porn star counts as a love life.”

Lance peeked up at him again. “You think I have other prospects, Hunk?”

“Good point.”

Lance sunk again. This was pathetic. What nineteen year old lamented over living with a porn star? This was every guy's wet dream, but here he was, whining about it. He did say he always wanted to meet Akira, but not like this. Never like this. He hoped it would have been at a coffee shop, or somewhere more public and casual. Eventually, he sat up, taking a sip from his drink. Ugh, at least it was still warm. He rubbed his face, before looking back at Hunk.

“I'm gonna have to do it. I'm gonna have to face him.” He pinched the bridge of his nose, hissing out a sigh. “Being an adult is all about dealing with conflict, right?” Okay, it wasn't conflict, but it was still bad.

“Just don't get too excited when you see him, okay?” Hunk laughed.

“Not helping.”

He finished his drink, while Hunk had long finished his own, and his food. Lance considered procrastinating more on going home, getting another drink, but he needed to get up and face the music at some point. He couldn’t sit there and groan forever; Sal would eventually poke him, and kick him out.

Lance gave in, standing up with Hunk and leaving the coffee shop. He walked Hunk back to his building before going back to his own, wanting to procrastinate as much as possible. He passed a lot of people with boxes, almost forgetting this was only the _first day_ of college. Nine more months of this, Lance told himself, and then he would never see Akira again, except in his videos. This was going to be his own personal hell.

He reached his room and put his hand on the door handle. Alright, Lance, you could do this. He sucked in his breath and opened the door, and the room just looked so _normal_. Sure, he wasn't expecting some kind of sex dungeon, but if Lance didn't know who Akira was, he wouldn’t have suspected a thing. That was likely the point, though.

Akira’s side of the room wasn't exactly decorated. He had plain black bed sheets, accented with red pillows. He had photos blu-tacked to the wall, polaroid hipster kind. A camera sat on his desk, while a tripod was hidden in the corner. Lance's stomach knotted as he knew _damn well_ what that was for, a highlight reel of videos playing in his mind. Akira sat on his bed, reading a book. Or he was, until he saw Lance staring.

“What?” He quirked an eyebrow at Lance. How long had he been staring for?

“N-nothing! Just, admiring the decorations.” He wouldn't call it admiring, not really. Lance sat down on his own bed. “Sorry for running out like that, I just forgot I had a thing with a friend, and the time hit me. So, uh, I'm Lance.” He smiled a little weakly, with a little wave.

“I'm Keith. Good to meet you.” He went back to his book, effectively ignoring Lance.

Wait. What. _Keith_?! Such a boring old man name! No wonder his porn name was Akira; Lance didn't want to moan Keith under his breath while touching himself. It felt like an illusion was shattered, smashed like glass. It didn't kill his boner, though, because of course it didn't.

Lance wanted to speak to Keith, get to know him, but the guy seemed to have no interest in him. They say one should never meet their heroes, but there was no rule about porn stars. Oh God, worst day of his life. Lance opened his laptop, and buried himself in online life. Time to pretend this wasn't happening.

Days passed, and nothing exciting happened. Not even a video was uploaded in that time, which was a shame. Keith didn't talk to Lance and, in return, Lance felt too awkward to talk to Keith. He kept himself busy with video games, avoiding his roommate's gaze as much as possible. It was still far too weird, but Lance would get over it. He would have to, as he couldn’t just ignore Keith for the rest of the year.

Class started again, and though summer was waning, it was still rather warm. Lance debated between his jacket and just a long sleeved shirt and decided, screw it, he didn't need his jacket. Instead, he slung his backpack over his shoulder and left the room, bidding Keith a good day as he left.

The day passed uneventfully, or, at least, most of it did. Lance was bored to death in his classes, as always. It was during lunch that his phone pinged with a new email notification, and his stomach dropped. A new Akira video. Lance wasn’t sure if this counted as luck or misfortune. Did he really have so little self control that he would find the nearest bathroom and go to town on himself?

Lance locked the bathroom stall door behind him, scrambling for his headphones and to take his pants off. He sat down on the seat, pants and underwear around his ankles. With Keith living with him, it just felt too weird to touch himself there. He plugged the headphones in and used the school's Wi-Fi to stream the video, without an ounce of shame.

He gripped his length, slowly working himself as Akira got himself started. Lance needed to avoid focusing on the scenery, which was easy when his eyes were just on Akira. Akira sat on his bed, smirking into the camera, his eyes piercing straight into Lance's soul. It always felt like he was doing this solely for Lance, a touch he quite liked.

Akira reached into his box of toys and, he paused for a moment after finish out a toy. He placed it on the bed before moving out of the shot. He came back, shrugging something on, and it didn't take long to realise what it was - _Lance’s fucking jacket_. His stomach churned, and he bit his lip, shuddering. Akira winked into the camera, before settling himself back on the bed, kneeling.

Lance's heart raced in his chest, struggling to keep himself quiet. It felt like Akira knew damn well Lance was watching, and he probably did. Lance wasn’t always a good liar. He grabbed the lube from his bedside table and squeezed a generous amount on his hand, before stroking the toy, eyes always on the camera. Lance would give anything to be that dildo right now.

Lance stroked himself in time with Akira’s strokes, fighting to keep his breath steady, keep himself quiet. He watched Akira move himself over the toy, then, slowly, push the toy inside his ass. He groaned loudly in Lance's ears, before slowly grinding against the toy.

“You like that, huh?” Akira asked, amusement clear in his voice.

“God, yes,” Lance hissed at the screen.

Akira didn't need to do much to turn Lance into mush. He kept up Akira’s pace, licking his lips, imagining his hands over his body, imagining himself under Akira like that. Lance wanted to put his hands on those thighs as Akira rode him, before pulling him down for a kiss by his hair.

Lance couldn't hold out anymore and, with a groan, he thrust into his hand, spilling all over his hand, much to his relief. He sank against the toilet, relieved, and glanced back to the screen. As he looked over, Akira had just finished, making a mess of himself.

Akira’s face was flushed, huffing, and he was gorgeous. Lance wanted to see it in person, more than anything, but he would settle with this. The soft lighting he used felt like lazy Sunday morning sex, and shit, Lance was into it. It felt far more personal than anything else, probably because it was his damn jacket.

Lance wiped himself off as best as he could with toilet paper, before turning the video off. He took a quick screenshot, tapping a text to Hunk. Shame? What was that, anyway?

‘ _dude did you see the new akira video??_ ’

A reply came almost instantly.

‘ _No. I can't watch it, I'm in class_.’

Damn, but Hunk absolutely needed to know about this. If he was in class, surely he shouldn’t have been texting. Well, whatever. Lance had to get a little creative with the editing. He added blue hearts where Akira’s junk was, before sending it to Hunk.

‘ _Lance, come on. I'm in class._

_Wait._

_That looks like your jacket?_ ’

‘ _YEAH HE STOLE MY JACKET DO YOU SEE THE PROBLEM_ ’

After sending the text, Lance left the stall, washing his hands, when his phone pinged again.

‘ _Oh, buddy. This is the exact opposite of a problem._

_You said you wanted to meet him, and here's your chance._

_He wouldn’t be doing this if he wasn’t into you._ ’

Hunk may have been onto something there, but it may have just been something Akira just did because it was hot. He was right to think that, of course, but it made Lance think he stood a shot. How naive.

‘ _oooooooor_

_i could keep going like this is not happening_

_like he's just some guy_

_sounds like a plan_ ’

Lance was making his way back to class at this point when his phone buzzed with another message. Nothing sucked harder than Hunk's disapproval but, this time, Hunk was _wrong_ , and Lance knew it.

‘ _No, that sounds like a terrible plan._

 _But you won't listen to me anyway_.’

Hunk was right, Lance wasn't going to listen. He needed to let go of these weird feelings, anyway.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'd like to preface this chapter with a couple of things;
> 
> 1\. Did I mention this has no schedule? I just post when it's ready lol. Could be 2 weeks, could be 2 months. I mean, judging by my last fic... yikes. RIP updates
> 
> 2\. While I can't stop minors from reading this, I have to just say this. Under no circumstances do I want a minor to interact with this fic. The original post I made about this fic on Tumblr had far too many minors liking/reblogging it. If I've blocked you on Tumblr, this is probably why. I'm not comfortable with seeing a 13 year old liking this, that's just-- nope. And yeah the reason I'm mentioning this is legit because I saw a 13 year old interact with this :'D ;;

Lance carried on as normal, whatever _that_ was anymore. He told himself he would stop looking at Akira’s videos, stop supporting him monetarily. But he didn't. Instead, now he was just instilled with a sense of shame after every masturbation session, and told himself that _this_ would be the last time. It never was.

This made interacting with Keith difficult. Every time Lance looked at him, all he could see was Akira, and while they were the same person, it felt wrong thinking about him like that while seeing him in person. He wished Keith a good morning every day, and said goodbye to him before class, but they didn’t speak much beyond that. Lance needed to make a better effort to talk to him.

He grabbed his jacket before dashing off to class every morning, and every time, the memory came flooding back into his brain. Lance could see Keith so clearly, wearing nothing but his jacket, smirking into the camera. He went red and ran. He shrugged it over his shoulders, and it still smelled like Keith. He held his sleeve over his face, feeling his heart thudding in his chest. Oh God, Lance was a mess.

The best way of getting over this was to hang out with Keith, but he didn’t know how he could do that when he couldn’t look Keith in the eye. Come on, he was just a normal guy, Lance could treat him as such. He came back from class to see Keith lying on his bed, reading. Despite Keith _acting_ normal, it just didn’t _feel_ normal. Okay, Lance could do this.

“You know what we should do?” Lance asked, grinning at him. “We should go to the mall.”

“Why?” Keith replied, barely glancing over the top of his book.

Lance clicked his tongue. “Because we should hang out more?” _Because I wanna look you in the eye without thinking about your dick._ “C'mon, let's go.”

Keith must have realised he was out of options and rolled his eyes. He put a bookmark where he was and slammed the book shut, before getting up and sliding into his boots. Excellent, so far so good. Lance led the way out of the dorm, and off to the mall.

Keith wasn't particularly talkative on the way, and it gave Lance time to realise he actually had nothing to go to the mall for. Shit, he needed to make _something_ up, and quickly. The first thing that came to mind was Victoria's Secret, and that was probably the worst thing Lance could have done. He may as well have broadcast his boner right then and there.

Lance hummed, thinking. Oh, right, they could go to the video game store, which was right at the back of the mall. That would buy him time to make something up, as well. Plus, on the way, they could go into whatever store Keith would want to go in; there was a Hot Topic on the way, he knew that much. Keith seemed like the type to enjoy Hot Topic. This was a great chance to get to know his roommate in personality, not in body. Boy, he was doing a poor job of not thinking about porn.

“So, anything you wanna do, man?” Lance asked.

“No. I’m here because you dragged me here,” Keith reminded him.

Oh. Right, Lance did sort of drag him outside. He scratched the back of his head, embarrassed. He stuffed his hands into his jeans pockets, biting his lip. He jumped into this without a real plan, and now he had to make an effort not to bore Keith. From the look on his face, it looked like it was already too late. Just like that, his plan took a dive.

Lance knew he was already interested in Keith as a person, but he wondered if he was interested because Keith was genuinely interesting, or because of his, ahem, _career_. He liked to think he would have at least tried to befriend Keith, even if he didn’t know him, but he didn’t think he would have made so much of an effort. Though, Keith himself was interesting - the man was a mystery, and Lance did always like a good mystery.

He didn’t display much in terms of emotion, usually looking rather bored. Though, that may have just been his resting face. Keith didn’t seem to like Lance much, either, though. What didn’t help was his first impression, but hopefully this was a good chance to make a good second impression.

“You’re staring again.”

Or not.

Lance looked off to the side, trying to pretend that didn’t happen. Great, he couldn’t even pretend to be normal. The rest of the journey was in silence, Lance too awkward to speak, and Keith just didn’t talk. They arrived at the video game store, and the pair split up.

He didn’t even know what he wanted to look at. He looked around at the games, wishing he had the money for all of it. Man, Lance needed a job to support his video game habit, but that was later’s problem. He tapped his fingers on one game case, staring at the price tag. Yikes, even secondhand, it was still a little steep.

Instead, he scanned around for Keith. At first, Lance couldn’t see him, but eventually he found him among the Amiibos. Keith had picked one up, giving it longing eyes. Lance looked down and-- wait a second. That was an _Animal Crossing_ Amiibo, wasn’t it? Unless Lance’s eyes were playing tricks on him. He grinned and approached him slowly, looking over Keith’s shoulder. Yep, that was definitely a cute little Isabelle Amiibo.

“ _Animal Crossing,_ huh?” Lance grinned.

Keith almost dropped the box, before shoving it back on its shelf in a hurry. Even though Lance couldn’t see his face, he could imagine how red he had gone. Instead, Keith picked up a Link Amiibo. Great, now Lance had scared him away from his interests.

“Hey, c’mon, I’m not knocking it. I love the game, it’s cute. We could play together sometime,” Lance offered.

Keith was quiet for a moment, before huffing a laugh. “Let’s see if you can beat my town.”

“It’s not a contest, dude,” Lance shrugged. “But if it was, I’d totally win.”

When they got back, the pair scrambled for their consoles. Lance flicked through his game cartridges before finally finding _Animal Crossing_ , switching out whatever was in there for it. He gulped as he took a look at his town in-game - jeez, had it really been that long since he played? He had weeds sprouting everywhere, and not enough time to clear them up before Keith came over.

On the other end, Keith’s town was impeccable; he must have played relatively often. He had all kinds of fruit, which Lance did steal. Hey, he couldn’t say no to some extra bells. Keith’s town was pretty, tastefully decorated. Lance smiled over at him, and he swore he saw Keith smile back, but he wasn’t sure - his imagination could be pretty vivid.

Lance hoped this would mark the beginning of a good friendship with Keith, and hopefully, it would end any other feelings.

\--

That night, Lance couldn’t sleep. He didn’t know what it was, whether he still felt unsettled in a new place, or if he was just stressed. He rolled onto his side, then his stomach, then his back, before pulling the pillow over his face. There was one thing that would send him to sleep, but was he shameless to do that with Keith in the room? As if Lance had any shame in his body.

He looked over at Keith, who looked asleep, at least. He bit his lip, before finally thinking, _fuck it._ He slowly wiggled his pyjamas down past his hips, letting his dick free. He stroked himself slowly, taking him a slow, shaky breath. Lance had done this before with someone in the room, so why was it so different with _Keith_ in the room?

His eyes fluttered shut, free hand covering his mouth, though it didn’t do much for the quiet moans that did spill from his mouth. He kept glancing at Keith, partially to make sure he was still asleep, but also because he was gorgeous. Lance no longer knew the definition of the word ‘shame’, but he was aware this was a little creepy. He picked up the pace, head sinking into the pillow.

Lance’s head was filled with filth, mostly involving Keith. Fuck, what he would have done to just pin him down against his bed, fuck him as hard as they both needed-- a loud moan escaped from his mouth, and his eyes widened. Jesus, he hoped Keith was a heavy sleeper. But, if not, then he hoped he didn’t mind.

He occasionally paused to circle the tip of his dick with his thumb, shuddering, biting hard on his cheek. Lance needed to at least _try_ to be quiet. He looked over at Keith, who was facing away from him still. Thank goodness, he thought. He sank back against the bed, feeling himself getting closer and closer to the edge.

Lance swore he heard something from Keith’s end of the room, a muffled moan. _Shit_ , even if it wasn’t, Lance could pretend it was. He wanted to listen to Keith moan, just for him, just a little louder. The thought of Keith getting off to Lance touching himself was enough to bring him over the edge, thrusting into his hand, and immediately regretting leaving the covers on himself. Great, now his sheets were dirty.

He laid in his bed, feeling gross. Not just because of the sheets, but because of what he had just done. Ugh, he hoped Keith had slept through that; Lance didn’t need another reason to avoid him. He rolled over, away from the fresh stain. As he finally went to sleep, he swore he heard quiet moans again. Ah, it was likely just wishful thinking.

\--

Lance woke up full of regret, his bare ass poking a little out of the sheets, and the sheets crusted. He could have screamed, if it wasn’t for Keith. He quickly pulled his pyjama pants back up and looked at the other bed. Oh, he was alone. Thank goodness. Lance got out of bed and got dressed, shoving his sheets in his laundry bag with his pyjamas. Time to clean the evidence, before Keith came home. He had seen enough without adding gross bedsheets.

He ran a hand through his hair. Right, okay, last night happened. He went down to the laundry room, phone in his jeans pocket, and shoved his laundry in one of the available machines. He slotted his money in and sat down, playing on his phone instead.

‘ _heyyyyyyyyy hunk_

_so you know how you said i should talk to keith etc etc right??_

_does jacking it with him in the room count as talking_ ’

A reply came almost instantly.

‘ _Lance. What the fuck._ ’

Lance laughed sadly, more of a sob than a laugh. As he thought, it really was a bad idea.

‘ _okay okay you need more context_

_last night i couldn’t sleep and i thought, you know what, why not_

_okay i know why not because it’s kinda gross and whatever_

_but i’m 90% sure i heard him moaning with me so he was probably getting off on it_

_do you think pornstars get off on the thought of people touching themselves to them?? whatever that’s not the point_

_anyway i woke up this morning with my bare butt poking out of the bed sheets which is kinda_

_yikes_

_i’m in the laundry room right now cause my sheets are all icky sticky_

_more like icky crusty but whatever_ ’

Lance barely realised he was rambling until he sent the last message. His thoughts were disorganised, and having them written out just made it worse. Lance knew Akira - and, obviously by extension, Keith - made his brain turn to mush, but he didn’t know it was this bad. He needed to pull himself together.

‘ _I love you, man, I really do, but it's too early to talk about your sheets._

_Even with context, that sounds bad. What if he woke up? From the sounds of it, he might have actually woken up, and tried to tell you to knock it off._

_What were you thinking, man? Were you even being careful._ ’

What, did he think Keith would get Lance arrested for touching himself? Keith wouldn't do that, surely. It was private property, technically. Hunk was worrying for nothing, as ever.

‘ _when am i ever not careful????_ ’

‘ _Do you really want an answer?_ ’

Lance huffed at his phone, before shoving it back in his pocket. Alright, Hunk had a point. It would have been a little weird if Keith woke up to Lance touching himself; how would he have felt if it was the other way around? Oh God, let's not answer that. As soon as his laundry was done, he shoved it into a dryer, trying to ignore his thoughts. Lance thought his boner was insatiable before, but it was nothing compared to how it was now.

A couple of days passed after that night, and it went unmentioned. Either Keith really was asleep, or he was polite enough not to mention it. Lance wasn't going to ask, no matter how curious he was. Life went on, Lance slept at night, and there was no unneeded awkwardness.

Keith had left for class a little while ago, and Lance had some time to kill before he needed to go, as well. He couldn't get into video games, or he would end up late. He couldn't do homework, as he had already done it the night before. What else could Lance do to pass the time? He laughed at himself, as if it wasn't totally obvious. He grabbed his headphones - like hell was he going to watch porn with his speakers on - and plugged them into his laptop. One day, he would look at porn made by someone else. For now, though, he had Akira.

He unzipped his jeans and pulled his dick out, and got to work on himself. God, the things he would do to that guy if he would let him. It was just a shame he was totally disinterested in Lance. He pushed that thought aside, instead wrapping himself in his own little fantasy.

He was so wrapped up in it that he almost didn't hear the door open, but when he did, he yelled. Keith looked at Lance in horror, with his dick out, and headphones pulled out of the laptop’s jack. There was a look of horror and recognition in Keith's eyes as the room filled with quiet moans on screen. Lance slammed his laptop shut, finally fumbling to pull the blanket over his junk.

“What are you doing home?!” Lance yelped.

“I-- my class was cancelled!” Keith sputtered. “Was that--”

Lance threw a pillow at him. “Get out already!”

But Keith didn't get out. Instead, he dropped his backpack to the floor and approached Lance, who pushed himself back against the wall on his bad. A smirk danced on Keith's lips, an expression he had seen on his face a thousand times before. Oh _shit_. His stomach clenched as Keith sat on the edge of Lance's bed, hand sitting on his leg.

“I didn't know you get so worked up over me,” he teased, his fingers slowly trailing up his thigh. He leaned in close to Lance's ear. “I hope you saw the video I made for you.”

It took a moment too long for Lance to realise, “the jacket one?” Keith hummed in confirmation. “God, that was hot.”

“How about, instead of watching me and letting you imagine whatever you want, I show you in person what I can do?” Keith whispered, kissing where the jaw and the neck met.

Lance shuddered and nodded, kicking the blanket off his lap. His dick stood to attention, twitching. Keith moved to straddle him, and wrapped his hand around it, smirking up at Lance. He worked his length with his hand, before diving back into Lance’s neck.

Lance groaned, rolling his head back. He bucked his hips into the touch, whining for more. But Keith kept up his agonizingly slow pace, enjoying every moment of this. He felt Keith chuckle against his neck, before pulling back. He held Lance's face in his hand, forcing him to look at him.

“Do you want more that badly?” Keith cooed. “Impatient, aren't you?”

He moved down slowly, maintaining eye contact with Lance. Those violet eyes always were piercing, but they were even more vibrant in person. Keith took his position by Lance's dick and hesitated, before giving the underside a long, slow lick. Lance threw his head back, hitting the wall but barely registering the pain. Keith's tongue circled the head, before wrapping his lips around it, working the rest with his hand.

His gaze flickered back up to Lance as he took more into his mouth, moaning. Lance gasped, running a hand through Keith's hair. He could get used to a pretty guy like him on his dick. Keith bobbed his head, holding the base with his hand and occasionally dragging his tongue on the underside. His fingers tightened in Keith's hair, knowing he wasn't going to last much longer. Keith kept humming against his dick, the vibrations making Lance shudder. Fuck, he couldn't hold it anymore.

Lance yanked him back by his hair, catching a look of confusion in Keith's eyes for a brief moment. He groaned as he came, covering Keith's face. There was a moment of awkward silence, before Lance released his hair and looked away.

“Okay, that wasn't supposed to happen,” Lance mumbled.

Keith got up and pulled a towel from a drawer to wipe his face. “No, it's fine. I…” Keith swallowed hard, before shaking his head. He threw the towel into the basket, before looking back over at Lance, his confidence back. “I didn't know I would be living with a fan,” Keith said.

Lance zipped himself up. “And I didn't think I'd ever meet you in person.”

“Well, here I am.” He approached, leaning down and cupping Lance's face in his hands. “We should do this again sometime.”

Lance gulped. Oh God, don't get horny now. “... yes, please.”

There was a brief flash of a genuine smile on Keith's face, before he let Lance go. “You should get to class.”

Lance's eyes widened. _Shit_. He was up like a flash, scrambling to gather his items before he ran out the door. Oh good, now he was late. It was totally worth it, if just for watching Keith suck him off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As ever, thanks to [Spenser](http://twunkadelia.tumblr.com)! Without him, this fic wouldn't be possible. He's like, half the idea behind this bad boy B)
> 
> Don't forget to check me out on [Tumblr](https://vehicroids.tumblr.com)!


	3. Chapter 3

######  _ Chapter 3 _

One day, Lance would stop airing his dirty laundry in the confines of Vrepit Sal’s. That day was not today. He invited Hunk out, and Hunk wasn't stupid. He knew Lance had invited him because he had something to tell him. He walked in and saw Lance, giving him that look of  _ what is it this time _ . When Lance told him his latest business, he choked on his drink.

“Buddy, what?” Hunk coughed, trying to get the liquid out of his lungs.

“It was pretty hot. How many people can say they got sucked off by a porn star?” Lance shrugged.

Hunk looked at him with a frown, knowing that meant he was being stupid’, but he was courteous enough not to say anything. Lance sipped on his latte, saying nothing. He kept his voice low the entire conversation, and thankfully, the café was too busy for anyone to really hear them. A part of him wanted to get on the table and announce it to everyone, but that was a bit much. He couldn’t imagine Keith being impressed with that, either.

“Anyway, so he's gone for the weekend, giving me free reign in the dorm,” Lance grinned. “You could come over or something.”

“No way, I've got shit to do. Maybe tomorrow, then we can talk about your disaster love life behind closed doors,” Hunk said, looking around the café.

Lance stole a piece of gingerbread with a huff. “Dude, you can't say anything when you've been pining for your roommate for, what, a year?” Lance snorted. “And you’ve talked him into living with you again this year. Yikes, Hunk.”

Hunk had nothing to say to that, instead looking away. Lance grinned - bingo, he was right. And that was just a stab in the dark. He ate his stolen gingerbread in piece, a symbol of his victory.

However, this left Lance with nothing to do that weekend. It wasn't like he did much when Keith was there, but it was totally different. He could play video games at full volume, jack off when he wanted, and dance around in his underwear. He did most of those things anyway, but it was nice to have a touch of privacy.

Lance soon realised he was bored as hell without someone with him. Why did Keith not being there make things so  _ boring _ ? Lance flopped on his bed, looking around the room. What could he do? Keith had left his camera there, which seemed odd to Lance. Sure, he wasn’t going to steal it, but someone else might have.

Lance hummed in thought. He could totally steal it. Not permanently, and not for long. He could take videos of stupid things with it, like the floor or whatever. Keith would be so mad when he found out. His reaction would’ve been priceless.

The world’s dumbest idea entered Lance’s mind. Lance was bored, and a little horny horny, and there was a camera. Surely Keith wouldn’t mind if Lance left him a little present, would he? Lance paused for a moment, considering whether or not this was a good idea.

Of course it wasn’t, that was why he was doing it.

He set the camera up where he wanted, trying to do his best with what very limited filmography knowledge he had. This looked about right, Lance thought. He wasn’t an art student or anything. He turned the light on, hoping that would be enough for a light source.

He searched in the bottom of his drawers, and through his relatively small collection of toys. He managed to find one - a plain dildo, nothing too wild - and pulled it out of the box. He could’ve found one of Keith’s toys, but that seemed a little too much to him. He undressed himself, throwing his clothes to a corner of the room.

He looked at the camera, a mix of embarrassment and excitement settling in his stomach. Maybe he should’ve been ashamed, but his dick twitched in his jeans from anticipation, wiping away any shame. Worst case scenario, Lance would delete the video before Keith came back, and it would be like nothing ever happened. Plus, it was kind of hot, thinking someone would be watching him. Okay, scratch that - it was  _ really  _ hot.

Lance started recording, and it was like a switch turned on inside of him. He got down on the bed, squeezing a generous amount of lube onto his fingers, before pushing them inside. He sighed, eyes fluttering shut, imagining it was Keith’s fingers instead, fucking him. Maybe his crush was getting a little bad, but fuck it. He bit his lip, trying not to say Keith’s name.

Satisfied it was enough, Lance squeezed some lube onto the toy, pressing it against his ass. This wasn’t the first time he had done this, but it was a first for him to do it on camera. He licked his lips, lowering himself onto the toy. A huff passed his lips, opening his eyes to look directly into the camera. He smirked, pleased with himself.

“Keith,” he sighed.

He wanted to avoid saying his name, but fuck it, now Keith knew for sure Lance was thinking of him. Lance rolled his hips against the toy, biting down harder on his lip. Fuck, he would have killed to be riding Keith right now, watch him squirm under Lance. He shuddered, bringing himself down hard on the toy. He pulled his shirt up, holding it up with his teeth.

Lance gripped the base of the toy, while his free hand ran over his chest. Maybe he should have stolen Keith’s gloves for payback, but he could do that another time. He rolled his head back, moans spilling from his throat. He trailed his hand down from his chest to his neglected dick, stroking in time with his thrusts.

“This is what you’re missing, beautiful,” he cooed.

What remained of Lance’s shame had been thoroughly fucked out of him. His strokes became desperate as he thought about Keith fucking him, the look on his face when he finally saw this. His orgasm came suddenly, spilling all over his stomach and hand, groaning Keith’s name. He bit his lip, winking into the camera, before getting up and turning the camera off.

Lance ran a hand through his hair with a short laugh. So that just happened. Part of him wanted to delete the file from the camera, pretend it never happened, and Keith would never know just how shameless he was. But there was something far more exciting about just leaving the video on there for Keith, and hopefully he would enjoy it. He put the camera back where it was before, almost like it hadn’t moved.

The weekend passed, and Lance had almost forgotten about the video. Keith came home, they exchanged pleasantries, but not much else. Lance couldn’t look him in the eye - it was better this way. Monday came, and he went off to class, leaving Keith home alone.

The day dragged, as Lance expected. All he wanted to do was get home, get in his pyjamas and play video games. Unfortunately, he had a full day of classes. He spent his time watching the clock, willing the time to go quicker. It never did.

He was relieved when it was finally over, and he could finally get home. He knew he would be home alone, at least for an hour according to Keith’s schedule. This gave him plenty of time to relax by himself. He turned on his laptop, sitting down to play video games for a little while.

Lance lost himself in the game, the time flying by. Before long, the dorm room door opened. Lance paid him no mind, eyes trained on the game. He only sound in the room was the TV on low and the clack of the controller buttons. Keith dropped his keys on his desk, disrupting the near-silence. Lance finally looked over at him.

“Hey,” Lance smiled, eyes back on the game.

“Hey,” Keith said. Out of the corner of his eye, Lance saw him cross his arms. Oh God, what now? Lance didn’t leave his underwear out, he did his dishes. Keith couldn’t be upset. “So, I saw you left me something on my camera?”

Lance paused the game. Ah. He was suddenly full of regret. He laughed nervously, pushing his desk chair back as he stood. He glanced up at Keith, who had a smirk on his face. Lance's mouth ran dry, and he just wanted to flee.

“Uh, so, I can explain--”

“I'm listening,” Keith hummed, taking a step closer.

Lance tried not to freak out. Okay, keep calm. If Keith was mad about it, he would have told Lance as much already. What on Earth made him think this was a good idea in the first place? He could lie, but there was no point. He may as well have come clean.

“Well, I was all alone, and I was missing you. I wanted to show you how much,” Lance whispered.

Keith hesitated for a brief second, before putting a hand on Lance's chest. “I missed you, too.” He leaned in close to his ear. “Wanna know how much?”

Lance nodded, a whimper caught in his throat. Keith chuckled softly, grabbing his shoulders and turning Lance around. He didn't have much of a chance to question it before Keith pressed his hips against his ass. Lance shuddered as Keith ground lazily against his ass, bringing to attention just how hard his dick was.

“Missed me that much, huh?” Lance slid his ass up, hearing Keith gasp behind him.

“I haven't stopped thinking about you since I sucked you off,” Keith hissed.

Lance swallowed. “God, that’s hot.”

Keith pulled away, undoing his belt, and Lance took that as his cue to follow suit. His jeans and underwear dropped to the floor, pooling around his ankles. Keith brought his hips against Lance's ass again, his dick warm against his ass. He shuddered in anticipation, bringing his hips out again. Keith laughed, giving his ass a squeeze.

Keith reached into a nearby drawer and pulled something out, but Lance couldn't see what. It was only when he felt a cold finger pressed against his ass that he realised. He circled his ass with his finger, before easing it in. Lance gasped softly - while it wasn't the first time he had something in his ass, it was the first time that someone else was doing it. Keith moved his finger carefully, and Lance whimpered, quickly wanting more.

A second finger slipped in, stretching him open. Lance groaned, riding against his fingers. He gripped his dick, giving himself slow strokes. Keith pulled his fingers out, and Lance heard more rustling behind him. His fingers were replaced with the tip of his dick pressed against his entrance. Keith held Lance's hips in place.

“You ready, sweet thing?” Keith asked.

“Yes,” Lance nodded, “I've been ready for this forever.”

Keith leaned in behind him, and Lance could hear the smirk in his tone. “Let me show you why I'm worth the wait.”

Keith eased himself in, and Lance tightly gripped the desk. He couldn't believe he was actually doing this, least of all with Akira--  _ Keith _ , he reminded himself. Keith eased himself in fully, and Lance kept stroking himself to ease the small discomfort.

“You okay?” Keith asked.

“Don't stop now, Keith,” Lance groaned.

Keith thrust into him, slow and shallow. Lance gave a shaky sigh, the discomfort soon changing to pleasure. Lance pushed back against him, moaning quietly, and Keith took this as his cue. He fucked into him deeper, grazing his teeth against Lance's neck. Lance huffed, leaning his head to the side for Keith. He held his free hand to the back of Keith's head, fingers tangling in the soft black mess.

Keith groaned against his neck, losing his gentler rhythm. Lance yelped in surprise, but he certainly wasn't complaining. Keith batted Lance's hand away, stroking his dick instead. Lance melted against him, riding harder against him. Keith buried his face in his shoulder, completely giving up on a sense of rhythm and making no effort to stay quiet.

“Fuck, Lance--” Keith groaned.

He gripped Lance’s hips tighter, his fingers digging in. He slammed into Lance, moaning into his ear as he came. Fuck, Keith made such beautiful noises; Lance could almost get off on just that.

Keith focused all his attention on finishing Lance off. Keith kissed and bit his neck, and Lance's grip on Keith's hair tightened. Keith hissed, pumping as fast as he could. Lance finally hit his peak, eyes fluttering shut as he spilled all over Keith's hand. Keith finally pulled out and moved away, likely to wipe his hands.

“Sorry,” Lance mumbled sheepishly.

“It's fine,” Keith said, throwing the condom in the trash. Good thing Keith thought ahead.

Lance put his clothes back on, though his ass felt weird now. He could’ve asked to cuddle, but that would have been weird. Unless Keith wanted to cuddle. He looked over at Keith, who was dressing himself. Guess not.

He grabbed a used towel, wiping away the little splatters on the desk. He would never be able to use that desk again without thinking of Keith. He bit his lip, glancing over at his roommate. He had no idea where to go from here, whether it was a one-time thing or a relationship.

“So,” Lance said, “what was that? I mean, other than sex.”

Keith paused, before looking away.. “It was just sex. That's all you wanted, isn't it?”

Lance frowned. “What? Is that what you think of me?”

“Just tell me one thing. If you didn’t know who I was, would you have tried to talk to me? Or would you have just treated me like any other guy?”

That was a heavy question. Lance liked to think he could make friends with anyone, and that he did make good friends with his roommate from last year. As for whether or not Lance would have been this interested? He wasn’t sure. It was true that, at some point, Lance did just want sex from him. He couldn’t help it if Akira was hot. But Keith was more than his pornsona, he was an actual person behind it. He wanted to know that person, not just the act.

“Silence.” Keith scoffed, shaking his head. “Thought so.”

“Wait, come on, it’s not--”

“Save it.” He shrugged his jacket back on. “You’re not the first guy to try to pull shit like this on me.”

Before Lance could respond, Keith was already gone. Dammit. Why wouldn’t he have just said something?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (looks at 114 subs) Hm alright (realises as soon as I press submit 114 people will be alerted that this fic updated) OH NO!! That's almost my entire Tumblr following?? What the heck
> 
> Anyway! I'm sorry, I update really, really sporadically. I've been working on 300 things and almost forgot about this fic. So, happy pride month! Here's dramatic porn.
> 
> So needless to say this got away from me - for some reason I gotta make this dramatic. I did say it was porn with plot, right? Uhhhh oops lol.
> 
> Check me out on [Tumblr](http://vehicroids.tumblr.com)! Please ignore how my Tumblr is Like That. Also leave a comment! I live for comments tbh.


	4. Chapter 4

Lance was an asshole. A huge, gaping asshole. He didn’t even know what to do, not when Keith wasn’t talking to him. His communications were in glares and notes left on Lance's laptop if it was important.

When Lance came into the room, Keith would either stick headphones in or walk out. Keith was almost never around anymore, and he knew Keith was avoiding him. Lance wouldn’t have blamed him - Lance did act like he was using Keith. On some level, maybe he was using him.

Lance had considered chasing after him before, but what would that accomplish? Keith would yell at him in public instead of in private, then still run off. Unless he did want to be chased, to feel wanted by Lance. That idea was canned when Lance realised Keith couldn't be  _ that  _ needy.

Lance walked to the library, leaving their dorm room empty for when Keith came back from classes. They would need to talk about this eventually, but eventually wasn’t  _ right now _ . He stuck his headphones in, humming to the music. He put his hand on the door just as someone else did, and when he looked, his humour faded. It was Keith, who scowled at him. Lance released the door, popping one of his headphones out.

“Are you gonna hate me forever?” Lance asked.

Keith didn’t even respond. He slipped into the library, leaving Lance alone outside. Dammit, it felt like nothing he did was going to be good enough. He needed to find a way to talk things out with Keith and patch things up. Or he could request a switch and pretend none of this ever happened, which was probably what Keith would have preferred. Unfortunately for Keith, Lance preferred to talk things out first. He needed a tactful way of doing things, but that was simple enough when Lance was the king of tact.

He was doomed.

That evening, Lance waited until Keith came home. He came home late, as he had been doing for the past few days, and Lance was now certain Keith was avoiding him. When Keith finally got back, he looked exhausted. He dropped his keys on his desk, rubbing his eyes. He was about to kick his shoes off when Lance opened his mouth.

“We need to talk,” he said.

Keith slipped his half-off shoe back on, before turning on his heel and walking back out the door. It was almost 11pm, and he had just stormed out. Where was he going to stay this short notice? Lance laid down on the bed, groaning, before he realised he couldn’t just let Keith storm out like this anymore. He sat up, slipping into his shoes, and charging out of the room. He was still in his pyjamas, but it didn’t matter. At this time of night, anyone who saw him would either be in pyjamas themselves or too intoxicated to care.

He ran through the halls, and out to the courtyard. Keith had his back to him, hands shoved in his pockets. Lance ran towards him, stopping right in front of him. He was met by a particularly mean glare from Keith, who folded his arms over his chest.

“Talk to me,” Lance huffed. “Please, just talk to me.”

“You had your chance to talk, and now I don’t want to,” Keith said calmly, pushing past Lance.

Lance was ready to tear his hair out. Keith didn’t want to talk to him, and he could understand that, but they couldn’t leave his hanging. Not when they lived together. Lance wasn't going to give up now. He reached out, gripping Keith’s wrist.

“Look, I’m sorry. You made me think, and I panicked, and the words just wouldn’t come. Please, can you at least let me explain myself now that I've had a chance to think about it?” Lance asked.

Keith tugged his wrist free, but he didn’t walk away. “Alright, explain yourself.”

“Maybe when I first met you, it was about the sex, okay? I can admit that, but because of how I first saw you…” Lance trailed off. As much as he wanted to brag about getting fucked by a hot porn star, he didn’t think Keith would appreciate it right now. “It’s not important. But you know what? Being with you made me realise you're more than that, and I realised I wanted to get to know you as a person. If I didn't want that, why would I have hung out with you?”

Keith’s eyes softened, his shoulders slumped as he let out out a sigh. “I guess you’re right.”

Lance smiled, relieved. “Can we go back to being friends again now? Please?”

Keith hummed, fake pausing. Lance bounced on his heels anxiously, and Keith smiled up at him.

“One thing first. How do you feel about me? And I mean honestly, how do you feel?”

Lance did not expect that question, but Keith seemed to be full of unexpected questions. Lance tried not to grimace as he tried to sort out his thoughts and feelings, but he couldn't. Not out of the blue like that.

“If I’m honest? I don’t know. I think you’re cute, and maybe I have a little crush, but I’m not sure. I don’t want to say anything in case I’m wrong,” Lance said.

Keith’s brow furrowed in thought. He was quiet, and Lance thought he might have said the wrong thing. Keith might not have felt anything for him, and he may have spilt his feelings for nothing. Or maybe he felt too much for Lance, and he was trying to protect his heart. Either way, Lance wanted to plant his face into the dirt below.

“Alright. I can at least appreciate you’re being honest.” Keith glanced away, before looking back at Lance. He let out a small laugh.

“Does this make things weird between us?” Lance asked.

“I don't know. I hope not, not when we have to deal with each other every day for a whole year. I think we just need time,” Keith said.

So that was a yes, at least for now. Lance sighed softly, looking down at the floor. He had no right to be sad, not when it was his fault that things were messy. That didn't make him feel any better.

“Are you gonna come home? If not, I'll leave you to it.”

Keith hesitated, before nodding. “Yeah, let's go home.”

Things felt better at home. Keith no longer ran when he saw Lance, but Keith frowned for a moment when he saw him. He understood why, but it didn't hurt any less. Lance should have said something, but Keith likely needed time and space. Keith was distant, but Lance didn't know if that was because he wanted to be or because he was just uncomfortable with the situation.

While Lance had said how he felt, Keith never volunteered how he felt about Lance. Well, he didn't need to, not when it was obvious how Keith felt. It was a strange, uncertain friendship. Friends who had previously fucked. It was fine, Lance didn't mind being roommates that fucked once in a while.

“Every time we talk about this, it amazes me how you top the worst idea you've ever had,” Hunk groaned as Lance updated him on the situation.

“Listen,” Lance said, waving a spoon at him.

“I'm listening.”

Lance shrank. “That's all I've got.”

They were in Lance's room, discussing the situation over a shared tub of ice cream. Germs were not an issue when they had done far worse for each other. Lance flopped onto Hunk, head in his lap as he ate. He felt down about it, so of course Hunk had to be there to listen to his whining. As ever.

“I don't know what else to do, dude. If Keith wanted more, he would've said so. So I'm happy to be roommates with benefits, if that's what he wants.”

“It doesn't sound like you'd be happy, and this will make it worse if you have feelings for him,” Hunk said.

Lance didn't know how he felt about Keith. That was another issue. He groaned, his hand over his face.

“What do you want me to do?”

Hunk looked down at him. “Don't make me say it.”

Lance did not want to talk to Keith about it. He didn't want to get rejected, and he certainly didn't want to make things worse. A shaky relationship was better than nothing at all. He, of course, wasn't going to tell Hunk that. He stuck another mouthful of ice cream into his mouth as the door opened. Lance sat up in surprise, almost swallowing his spoon whole.

“Hey Keith,” Lance choked, trying to act normal.

Keith smiled, before looking at Hunk curiously. Hunk got up and mumbled some kind of excuse or an apology, or something Lance didn't quite catch before leaving. Lance smiled sheepishly at Keith.

“Want some ice cream?” he asked.

“I do, but I'm also lactose intolerant,” Keith said.

Lance closed the tub and put the spoons in the sink, before putting the tub back in the freezer. He was about to sit back down when Keith cleared his throat, catching his attention.

“You busy?” Keith asked. “Cause I've gotta go and take photos for a class project, and I was thinking… You could tag along?”

Lance grinned. “Yeah! Lemme get my shoes on.”

Lance had no interest in photography, but he was interested in Keith. In what way, he still wasn't sure, but he wanted to find out. And if Keith wanted to reach out to him, Lance wasn't going to say no. Anything to ease the strange atmosphere. Keith strapped his camera around his neck as Lance slid his shoes on.

Lance stuffed his hands in his jacket pocket and he followed Keith to a nearby park. In the start of autumn, it wasn't much to look at. It was much nicer in spring when it was in full bloom, or when the petals were starting to fall. The dying leaves looked pretty though, in shades of yellows to brown. He looked over at Keith, who was looking around in thought.

“So, what are we doing here?” Lance asked.

“Taking photos for a project,” Keith said, humming. “The project is titled Beautiful Things, so I guess what people find beautiful is subjective.”

Don't say it sounds pretentious, don't say it sounds pretentious, don't… “Huh. Sounds pretentious.”

Idiot.

Keith laughed a little. “It does, doesn't it?”

Oh good, Keith wasn't offended by it. Lance looked around, his nose wrinkled. Sure, the scenery was pretty, but it wasn't creative. This was the sort of thing everyone would be doing. Lance laughed to himself as he thought of a bad joke.

“Maybe you should submit a selfie,” he joked.

“Do I look like Max Caufield to you?” Keith laughed.

Lance grinned, glad his awful joke did not go over Keith's head. It was a shame neither of them had a car - they could have driven somewhere else to take nice pictures. If this was Lance's project, what would he take pictures of? His family, his friends, they were all beautiful to him. However, his own family was far away, and he didn't know if Keith had a family. It wasn't something someone should ask. He couldn't even volunteer his own family for the project.

“Feeling inspired?” Lance asked.

“Not really. It's all about capturing the right moment at the right time, but there's nothing here.”

“Come on, let's walk for a little bit.”

They walked, but other than pictures of dead leaves or the occasional squirrel, there was still nothing to take photos of. Lance frowned. This was why he could never be a photography student - that, and finding a job in the field was nearly impossible. This was Keith's minor, so it didn't matter as much, luckily. Keith should have been a film student, but Keith was smart enough to pick job security.

“Your camera looks really, really expensive. Is that why you, uh…” Lance trailed off, turning pink.

“Yeah, and to pay tuition. My dad isn't exactly rich,” Keith said. “It's not like it's prostitution, and the money is good. Really good.”

“Are you trying to convert me?”

Keith shrugged. “No, but if you want to…”

Lance rose his hands defensively. “Oh man, no, no way. I'm not as brave as you.”

Keith looked up at him with an eyebrow raised, and Lance looked away, laughing nervously. Keith laughed with him, looking back ahead. He certainly didn't have the balls Keith had to post videos online, but he would happily record himself jerking off for Keith. That was different, though.

“So, how much of a fan are you? I mean,  _ were _ you?” Keith asked.

Lance wanted to die. He regretted Keith ever finding out that he had seen his stuff. He turned his face away, his cheeks burning.

“I haven't seen your stuff since…” Since the fight. Lance shook his head. “But uh, huge. I mean, I spent all my spare cash on you. I hope that's not weird to admit. Who am I kidding? It's really weird.”

The expression that crossed Keith's face was a mix of embarrassment and pride. His face turned as red as his jacket, trying to hide it behind his hair.

“You know, you never told me how you feel about me,” Lance said.

“Oh yeah, I didn't,” Keith hummed. “Come on, let's go home.”

Damn. He wasn't going to share how he felt. Keith had a cheeky smile on his face, knowing all too well what he was doing. Lance huffed, leading the way back home. They got back to their dorm room, and they both waited at the door. Keith had his key, right? Because Lance certainly didn't.

“Well?” Keith said.

“Dude, I don't have my keys,” Lance said. Keith frowned, and Lance realised neither of them had their keys. “Oh man, what're we gonna do?” Lance grimaced.

Keith rolled his eyes, before reaching into his camera bag. He found a hairpin and crouched down by the door. There was no way Keith knew how to pick a lock, he was just guessing. After a minute of trying, the door came undone, and Keith smirked. Never mind, then.

“After you.”

“Dude, why do you know how to pick locks?” Lance asked, entering the room.

“I know a lot of cool tricks,” Keith said with a wink.

Just when Lance thought Keith couldn't get any more interesting, he just had to prove him wrong. He felt a dull thud in his heart. Oh God, no. Lance swallowed hard, trying to ignore his stupid heart. This was not happening.

“Nuts to cooking, not when we’ve worked so hard,” Lance huffed. “Wanna get takeout?”

“Really? We've barely done anything,” Keith laughed. “You can order.”

Lance was going to eat the hell out of his feelings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy birthday, Lance! Here's some soft. ... this is the first SFW chapter, if you ignore Lance asking about Keith's job lmao. Oops! Oh well, it's porn with plot, as I've warned :3c I love me some dramatic romance, I see
> 
> Anyway! Check me out on [Tumblr](http://vehicroids.tumblr.com)! Don't forget to leave a comment, etc etc


	5. Chapter 5

Keith’s project portfolio was filling out pretty nicely. He had so many photos stashed neatly in the little pockets, and while Lance knew nothing about photography, he could appreciate the photos. Keith let him flick through the folder, watching Lance anxiously. It was hard to get into it when Keith was watching him. Crap, he was expecting something from Lance. Quick, think of something deep.

“The framing is… swag. The location is yolo,” he mumbled.

Keith frowned hard at him. “Never say those words to me again.”

Lance laughed. He closed the folder and handed it over to Keith. He sighed, putting the folder on his desk and leaning backwards against the desk.

“I don’t know what I’m gonna do,” Keith groaned, putting a hand over his face.

“I don’t see the problem,” Lance said.

“Did you not see what I saw?” Keith gestured at the folder in disdain. “It’s all generic. I bet everyone’s folder is full of photos like this.”

Lance laid down on his bed. “Dunno what else you can do.”

They had spent the past couple of days bouncing ideas off each other. Unfortunately, Lance wasn’t as creative as Keith, so all of his ideas were tossed out. Keith only wanted Lance to listen to him, and Lance was happy to listen. He did feel bad that he had nothing to offer Keith, however.

“You could take photos of someone, you know? Like uh, I don’t know. My best friend’s roommate is hot.”

“That’s not the…” Keith sighed. “No.”

Well, excuse Lance for trying. He pulled up his phone, Googling ‘photographs of beautiful things’. It was generic photo after generic photo, not dissimilar to the ones in Keith’s album. And a weird pregnancy photo. Alright, that wasn’t helping.

Being broke college students had its disadvantages. They couldn’t pack up and go to the country or the mountains to take photos. Hell, right now, they couldn’t even afford good ideas. Hopefully, the photos Keith had right now would be marked by technical skill, and not by the subject.

“Look, I’m just saying. You’re beautiful, right? So--”

“ _ Lance _ ,” Keith said, exasperated.

Lance sighed. “Alright, fine, but we’re out of ideas and we need to accept it.”

Keith grabbed the album again, flicking through the pages in thought. With each flick of the page, Lance watched him grow more and more irritated. Keith finally slammed the folder down, before grabbing his camera.

“I’m going out for another walk. I’ll figure this out,” Keith said as he walked right back out.

And just like that, Lance was alone again. He sighed, pulling his laptop up from the floor and onto his lap. He wished he could help Keith, but he couldn’t. He wasn’t some fancy pants artist. He barely knew how to use a camera. Point at a thing and click, right? Wrong. It required so many buttons and lenses that it made Lance’s head hurt.

Maybe true beauty was in spontaneous moments, but when Keith spent most of his time isolated, that made that idea a little more difficult. It was a shame Lance didn’t know any creative types that could help Keith out. Stupid smart friends and their big brains and tiny imaginations.

Lance wasn’t helpful. He knew that. That didn’t make him want to help any less. It was a shame that Keith was growing more agitated with his not-help, and made him snap at Lance. Fine, whatever, Keith could be an ass. At least Lance could say he tried to help. But there was no need for Keith’s attitude.

Lance ran home through heavy rain, soaking him to his core. His jacket did nothing to shield from the downpour, and his socks were soaked through his shoes. He dropped his bag on the floor, immediately pulling off his shoes. He left wet footprints on the floorboards, each step making a sloshing noise.

He glanced over at Keith, who was lying on his bed. He stared at Lance, wide eyed, the gears turning in his head. Lance tilted his head. Did he really look that messy?

“You okay?” Lance asked.

“I-- Can I?”

Keith looked over at the camera, then back at Lance. It took him a moment to understand, but Lance nodded. Keith reached over for his camera and hesitated for a moment. When the camera shutter clicked, Lance knew it was the beginning of their impromptu photo shoot.

Was this for Keith’s project? Lance didn’t know. He didn’t feel beautiful - he felt like a drowned rat. He ran his fingers through his hair, getting rid of the excess water as he listened to the camera shutter click continuously. Lance almost felt like a model, if models looked like someone had tried to drown them. He shot Keith a winning smile, making him pause for a moment. Keith quickly went back to taking photos.

“Okay, you got enough? Cause I feel gross, and I really wanna change into dry clothes,” Lance said.

Keith looked at the floor. “Do I have to stop?”

The question caught Lance off guard. Keith looked a little lost, too. He didn't falter, though his hands shook a little as he held the camera. Oh no, he was cute. So cute. Lance smiled.

“Well, if you find something beautiful out of it, I don't see why not,” Lance shrugged.

Keith swallowed and nodded. They had seen each other naked before - Lance had Keith's dick in his ass once for crying out loud - but there was something different this time. More intimate. Lance pulled off his shirt with a grimace and a shudder, frowning when he heard the shutter. Keith smiled. Jerk. Lance was supposed to look good, not disgusting.

His shirt was discarded into the laundry basket before he slowly wiggled out of his pants. The fabric clung to his legs, making it a challenge to pull them off. He pulled one leg off, then hopped on it to pull off the other leg. Keith chuckled to himself, but said nothing. Lance peeled soggy socks from his feet, shuddering when cold air made contact with his bare, damp skin. Gross.

All Lance had left was underwear. He hooked his thumbs in his waistband, hesitating. He looked over at Keith, whose face was flushed but remained silent. It was nothing he hadn't seen before, Lance had to keep telling himself. He was slow while he pulled them down, eyes on Keith the whole time. Once his boxers were at his ankles, he stepped out of his underwear. He could feel Keith's eyes on him, and he wasn’t sure how to feel. Lance smiled at him, a touch nervous. He put his hands on his hips.

“Got what you needed?” he asked.

Keith lowered the camera slowly, embarrassed and a little ashamed. “Uh. Yeah. Guess so.”

Lance turned to his drawers to fish out a pair of underwear. As soon as his hand made contact with the handle, Keith made a strange noise. Confused, Lance turned to face him. He had never seen Keith so red and flustered in his life. It was perfect. Keith sighed, collecting himself

“You're beautiful,” he said, finally looking at Lance.

Lance laughed, embarrassed and nervous, scratching the back of his head. He didn’t know what to say. He shouldn’t have tried to read into it, but he did. Lance took a step closer to Keith, reaching out to touch his face. Keith didn't move. His face was hot, burning to the touch. But Lance didn't want to let go, even if every part of him told him to. Keith leaned into the touch, closing his eyes.

Lance no longer needed to ask how Keith felt.

He pulled Keith in for a kiss, soft and slow. Keith hesitated before kissing back, but when he did, he put his hand on Lance's neck. Lance was the one to pull away first, smiling at him sheepishly. Keith put his camera down, then threw his arms around Lance's neck. He pulled Lance down, their lips making contact once again, though this time it was far more desperate. Their teeth clashed together, noses awkwardly smushed together, but it didn't matter.

“Should-- should I get dressed again?” Lance mumbled against his lips.

Keith shook his head. He tugged off his shirt, tossing it across the room. Lance let his hands wander on Keith's chest. His skin was so much smoother than he had ever anticipated. Keith shuddered, his skin rising as goosebumps. Lance smiled. Oh no, how could he get even cuter?

Keith undid his belt, letting his pants drop to the floor. It was a good day to not wear his usual skinny jeans. Lance hooked his thumbs in the waistband of Keith's underwear, and Keith wiggled his hips to aid Lance. That was permission enough. He pulled them down enough to allow them to fall on their own, leaving Keith completely bare.

Lance took a step back to admire him, and holy shit, he was gorgeous.

He hoped it wasn't the last he would see Keith naked in person. There were some things that a camera couldn't capture. He had seen Keith naked, but never this bare, this vulnerable. Keith looked away, his face still burning. Every part of him was gorgeous, and Lance was blessed to have this time with him. He reached over, brushing the hair out of Keith's face to take a better look at him.

“Yeah, just as I thought,” Lance hummed. “You really are beautiful.”

“Can we--" Keith glanced over at the bed. He couldn’t look back at Lance. “Cuddle?”

Lance smiled - not what he expected. Not that he minded. “Yeah.”

Lance got on his own bed and laid on his side, patting the empty space beside him. Keith crawled in next to him and gasped when Lance pulled him into a squeezing hug. Keith stiffened, but after a moment, he relaxed a little. Lance loosened his grip, letting Keith go if he wanted to. Keith moved, and Lance thought Keith was running away. He sat up, grabbing the blanket and pulling it over both of them.

Keith moved back into Lance, his face hidden in his chest. Lance gently stroked his hair, curling the soft strands around his index fingers. This wasn’t what Lance expected. But he didn’t realise how much he wanted this until Keith was in his arms.

Lance's heart thudded in his chest. If Keith heard it, then he didn't say anything. He closed his eyes, listening to Keith's soft breathing and the rain splattering against their window. The world felt alright, even if just for a moment. Lance was so relaxed that it was easy to fall asleep with Keith in his arms.

He woke up in darkness. But Keith hadn’t moved. He didn't know if he should wake him up, so he left Keith to sleep. This was too nice, despite how hungry and a little uncomfortable he felt. Lance moved to check the time - it was two in the morning. And he stood no chance at going back to sleep now.

His attention was taken by Keith, who he assumed was still asleep. He was so cute - there was no way Lance could get over it. Lance kissed the top of his head. If he ever had any doubts about his feelings for Keith, then he certainly did not now. He traced his hand down Keith's arm, making the most of him while he slept. Perfect.

“Lance?” Keith mumbled, pulling away. He almost seemed relieved when he saw Lance was still there. Well, that didn’t last long. “What time is it?”

“It's, like, two in the morning. I'm sorry, did I wake you up?”

Keith shook his head. “No, I was awake anyway. Do you want me to go?”

Lance pulled him back in. “No. But I am kinda hungry. But I don’t want you to go.”

When did Lance get home? It must have been around four in the afternoon, maybe around 4:30. They hadn't eaten dinner, either. If they got food now, was it breakfast or dinner? Likely some kind of hybrid, like brenner or dinfast. Man, he could go for some pancakes right now. Maybe some bacon, too.

“Are you listening?” Keith asked. Wait, was Keith talking? Shit.

“Yeah, I was just…”  _ Don't say you were thinking about benner _ , Lance’s brain begged. “... thinking about brenner. You know, breakfast for dinner.”

Keith paused. “You really are something.”

Lance laughed, but that didn't change his need for pancakes with bacon. His stomach grumbled, and Keith poked it gently. Lance whined.

“Come on, we should try to eat something,” Keith said.

He scooted off the bed, turning the light on. Lance screamed, covering his face with a pillow. His retinas were on fire. When he uncovered his eyes, Keith had already slipped his boxers back on. That was a little disappointing Keith looked in the fridge, bent over with his ass out. Okay, he was totally allowed to admire his ass. Right? Lance shifted his focus to grab fresh underwear of his own.

“Alright, we have bacon, we have eggs, milk…” Keith trailed off. “We could have breakfast for dinner.”

Lance's eyes lit up. “I will eat 2am pancakes, don't even test me.”

Keith smiled at him over his shoulder before pulling ingredients from the fridge. Did they even have ingredients for pancakes? From the look on Keith's face, they did not. He put his hands on his hips, looking at the ingredients before sighing.

“I'll just have to improvise,” Keith mumbled.

Lance did his best to not watch Keith as he made them, but it was hard. He was just so cute, even when he wasn't trying to be. If Lance had to pick a favourite version of Keith, it would be this one, without a doubt. He smiled to himself, before forcing himself to look at his phone instead. He couldn’t keep staring.

He had a new email, sent at around 3pm today. Or, really, yesterday. An email from Akira, or more specifically, the website he posted on. He glanced up at Keith, who was focused on cooking, before going back to the email.

Akira made a new post -  _ Hiatus _

Huh? Lance read the title, then read it again. That couldn’t be right. With a curious hum, he opened the blog post. Akira only posted when it was important - though usually, if he disappeared, it was without a word. Lance couldn’t help but worry more.

_ If you’re worrying, don’t be. I’m fine. I’m gonna keep this short. I’ve been a little too busy to make anything lately, so I’m taking this time to take a little back. I promise I’ll be back soon. _

Keith came over with two plates as Lance finished reading. Keith gave him a small smile, handing him one of the plates. He sat down at the edge of Lance’s bed, and Lance was surprised Keith didn’t scutter back off to his own bed. As he took a bite of his pancakes, Lance frowned over at Keith. Alright, he really wanted to know what was up.

“You’re quitting?” he asked.

Keith grimaced. “No. I’m not.” He put down his fork. “I just need a break. I’m feeling uninspired lately. Not just with class, but…”

That was true, but Lance wondered if it was his fault, even in part. Things were strange between them. What wasn’t helping was this naked nap. Their relationship was a mess. He finished off his small pile of pancakes, before putting his plate on the floor.

“And… that’s it?” Lance said, furrowing his brow.

“What do you mean?” Keith caught his eye, and he suddenly understood. “... maybe that’s part of it. But mostly, I just need a break. I’ve been doing it pretty consistently since I turned 18, and I don’t  _ need  _ the money right now. I need to focus on more important things. I just don’t have enough inspiration.”

He was struck with inspiration when it came to Lance getting naked, though. He wasn’t going to say that - he wasn’t that stupid - but the thought was there. Keith got up, grabbing their plates and dumping them in the sink.

“Thanks for food, dude,” Lance said.

“Don’t mention it.” Keith paused. “Thanks for helping me with my homework.”

He laughed softly. “I’m glad my sexy naked body cleared your photography block.”

“Don’t say it like that.”

Lance snorted, laying back down. Keith looked at Lance, then his own bed. He turned the light off. It took a few moments, but when Lance heard the springs of Keith’s bed shift under his weight, he knew what they had was over.

“Oh, we’re sleeping?” Lance asked.

“I’m tired,” Keith mumbled unconvincingly.

Lance frowned. “You sure?”

“Mm. Goodnight, Lance.”

Keith rolled over, and Lance wanted to say something. Was Keith trying to pull away again? Ugh, Lance couldn’t keep up. He rolled over, trying to sleep. But he couldn’t. He rolled onto his back, his side, his front--

“Go to sleep already!” Keith finally said.

Lance stopped. “Says the one still awake.”

Keith hissed a sigh. “Fine, I can’t sleep. We’ve been asleep for 8 hours, I can’t sleep now.”

Lance sat up. “We could just sit around and talk.”

Keith shuffled, and Lance assumed he had rolled away again. Man, why was Keith like that? He was just within reach one minute, then the next, he pulled away. Lance dragged his hands over his face, frustrated. He tried not to groan.

“Where are you from?”

The question came out of nowhere. Lance looked over at Keith - in the dark, it seemed like he was lying on his back. Lance laid down on his back, too. Keith was full of questions out of left field.

“Cuba,” Lance answered. “It’s really nice. Hot, too. We lived by the beach, but we moved to America, like, five years ago.”

“Do you miss it?”

He sighed. “A little. … what about you? Where are you from?”

“Me?” Keith sounded shocked that someone would care about him. “Arizona. So trust me, I know hot, too.”

Keith laughed, and Lance laughed with him. He was so cute, Lance couldn’t stand it. Lance didn’t realise it was this easy to get him to talk. Keith talked about his dad - a firefighter with an interest in conspiracy theories - but glossed over his mother. Lance wasn’t going to pry He had no siblings. His birthday was next month, which Lance made certain to sneakily note down.

Keith didn’t seem to have many interests. He liked photography, and he liked film making. That much was obvious. He didn’t seem to want to share other interests, but Lance knew he liked cute things. He liked Isabelle, right? What other cute things could Lance get him? Damn, he could figure out presents when it wasn’t early in the morning.

Eventually, Keith stopped answering Lance’s questions. At first, Lance thought Keith was just bored of talking. Soft snoring told him otherwise. He smiled to himself, before rolling over and trying to sleep. It was hard, but he eventually managed to fall asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Porn whomst just soft shit between two guys lmao
> 
> Anyway follow me on 


	6. Chapter 6

The mall was packed, as it always was, and it was always more of a chore to go there alone. Thankfully, Lance wasn't alone; had dragged Hunk with him just to ‘hang out’, but Hunk wasn’t stupid. He had grown used to ‘Keith this’ and ‘Keith that’, and this time was no different. Hunk looked like he wanted to die every time Keith was mentioned, but this went unnoticed by Lance.

“So what's the deal?” Hunk asked, interrupting the thousandth _Keith is amazing_ monologue. “Are you guys a thing, or are you friends with benefits, or…?”

Lance hummed in thought. “Good question. Shame it doesn't have an answer.”

“Oh my God,” Hunk groaned.

Lance didn't know what Hunk expected. They had an odd relationship, and that wouldn't change overnight. They weren't friends with benefits, and Lance didn't know if he could even call Keith a friend. He was his Keith, that was all there was to it.

“Quit groaning and help me find something for him,” Lance said.

“Yeah, great, let's find something for your not-boyfriend.”

Lance stopped. “Alright, you know what? Your negative Nancy attitude is totally not helpful right now.”

Hunk shrugged. It wasn't his problem, so he had no reason to care. If the shoe was on the other foot, Lance would have done anything for him. Whatever, there was no use arguing. He shrugged it off, finishing off his milkshake as he looked around. He spotted the Sanrio store and almost swallowed his straw whole.

This was a sign. First of all, the store was next to Hot Topic, where Lance was certain Keith bought most of his clothes from. Second of all, it felt like the lights were calling to him, telling him to go in. There was a little penguin character in the window he was certain he had seen on Keith's keys, and that was enough to sell Lance.

“This is it, buddy,” Lance said.

“Are… are you sure?” Hunk asked.

Lance didn't even bother answering. He walked in and found himself surrounded with all the cute things anyone could ever want. He had hit the jackpot - he grinned widely, looking around.

It was a shame he didn't know what to get. They were all adorable with cute names - Tuxedo Sam, Cinnamoroll - but which would Keith like more? It wasn't like he could call up and ask. Instead, he inspected each and every character, hoping one of them would call out to him. He really, really didn't know what he was doing.

Lance spotted a little green frog, Keroppi: he was adorable, with a cute smile and bright colours. He was perfect. A little keychain version of him was cheap enough - perfect for a broke college student. Lance grinned, holding the item in his palm.

“What do you think?” he asked.

Hunk looked at it, then at Lance. “I mean, it's cute? If you're going for cute, that works.”

Lance grinned. That was Keith's birthday present sorted. He bought the little keychain, stashing it in his pocket to wrap later. Who was he kidding? He was totally going to forget come Keith's birthday and quickly throw it in a gift bag.

Keith didn't mention his birthday in the passing days, not even once. If it was Lance, he would have been mentioning it at every given opportunity. Keith was more reserved, or he didn't care about his birthday. Lance was more excited over Keith's birthday than Keith was, but he could muster up enough excitement for both of them whether he liked it or not.

The day had finally come, but Keith was unfazed. To him, it was like any other day. Lance couldn't understand that - he was going to shove birthday cheer into Keith if it was the last thing he did. He got dressed as soon as he could and rushed off to the bakery.

He came back, cake on his arm, to Keith reading on his bed. Keith glanced up at him, then back down at what he was carrying. He raised an eyebrow, and Lance grinned at him.

“Happy birthday, buddy!” Lance said cheerfully.

“What are you doing?” Keith asked, brow furrowed.

“It's… your birthday? So I got cake. It's only a small one, yeah, but it's still cake. I hope you like cake!”

Keith got up as Lance opened up the box. The cake was tiny: it was half of a small chocolate cake. It was the best Lance could do on short notice - he should have thought about it sooner. He held out the box to Keith, who looked even more confused.

“We aren't sharing it?” he asked.

“What, you wanna eat a quarter of a cake for breakfast?” Lance asked.

Keith smiled. “Get the forks.”

It was a good thing neither of them were diabetic, otherwise this would have killed them. They sat on Lance's bed, the box of cake placed between them. He felt sick as he shoved solidified sugar into his mouth, but it was worth it.

Having eaten his fill of cake, Lance moved to his drawers and rifled through his bedside table. At the bottom of the drawer sat a little paper bag, which he fished out. He handed it over to Keith, who tilted his head at Lance.

“Happy birthday, dude,” Lance said with a smile.

“What is it?” Keith eyed the colourful bag suspiciously.

“Look for yourself.”

Keith opened up the bag and reached in, pulling out the little keychain. It jingled as it dangled from his finger, and Keith stared at it. Lance watched him nervously, his hands in his lap. Keith held Keroppi in his palm, still staring, still saying nothing. He hated it. What was Lance going to do? He definitely did not have the receipt any more.

Keith lowered his arm, looking back at Lance with a soft smile. “How did you know?”

Wild guessing, but Lance couldn’t say it like that. He kicked his shoes off and pulled his feet up on the bed. He looked over at Keith’s keys on his desk.

“You have the little… penguin guy. I saw him in the Sanrio store window and thought, what the hey.” Lance smiled. “So I went in, saw the frog - Kendama or something - and thought it looked cute.”

He lowered his arm and smiled at Lance, before getting up to grab his keys.

“I really appreciate it. Thanks, Lance. He can sit with Tuxedo Sam,” Keith said, laughing softly.

The keys jingled as Keith fiddled with them and, with a click, Keroppi had joined his keys. Keith gave Lance a small smile before sitting back down with him, bringing his legs up on the bed.

“Oh, I guess you can sit on my bed,” Lance laughed.

Keith shrugged. “It's my birthday. Since you're pretty adamant I should celebrate, I will.”

Lance nudged him, before lying down. No more cake, not with his stomach gurgling. Now he knew why his mom didn't let him have cake for breakfast. Keith put the cake down on the floor then leaned over Lance to kiss his cheek. Wait, what did this mean? Was it friendly? Was it romantic? Lance shoved the thought to one side.

“Thanks, Lance. This means a lot to me,” Keith said with a smile.

That smile could kill a man. Lance nodded, the words caught in his throat as he admired Keith. He pulled Keith down to lie on Lance, who was more than eager to lie down. Keith's head was against Lance's heart, and suddenly, he was so nervous he could barely breathe. Lance ran a hand down Keith's back, who hummed contently.

“Everyone deserves good birthdays, and I'm gonna make you celebrate whether you like it or not,” he said.

Keith laughed, making himself comfortable. Was it really platonic to cuddle and kiss Keith? No. Did he want to ruin it by having the what are we talk? Also no. He would rather lay here, comfortable and happy, with the boy he had a big crush on, and may or may not already be dating.

He absentmindedly kissed the top of Keith's head, rubbing circles on his back. Lance could have fallen asleep if he wasn't all too aware of his feelings. How could he sleep when he knew how gay he was, and when Keith was lying over him like this?

Keith moved to look up at Lance, and his heart stopped for a moment, before rushing once again. How could one boy make him feel so much? Lance twirled some of his hair around his finger, and Keith sighed contently, before moving up to kiss him softly.

Lance could kiss him forever if given half a chance. Keith moved himself to almost sit on Lance, with a knee on each side of his waist. Lance ran his hands down Keith's sides, who shuddered and squirmed above him. Lance grinned.

“Don't,” Keith said softly, “Don't even think about it.”

“No fun,” Lance sighed.

He put his hands on Keith's hips, which he didn't seem to mind. He leaned down to kiss Lance again, bringing his hips down against Lance's. Lance's breath hitched. It was as if every sexual memory he had of Keith came all at once as a highlight reel, and he swallowed hard. This wasn't the time to think like that, especially when Keith didn't want sex.

But when Keith moved his hips against Lance, he was beginning to think otherwise.

Lance curiously reached behind Keith to cup his ass and gave it a gentle squeeze. Keith sighed, leaning his ass into his hands. Fuck yes, birthday sex was happening.

He kissed Keith’s neck, who melted under the kisses. Keith ran his hands down Lance’s chest, before ghosting his fingers under his shirt. He slipped his hands under Lance’s shirt, up from his stomach to his chest, tugging his shirt up. Lance raised his arms up, and Keith pulled his shirt off, before going right back to kissing him.

Lance slid his hands into the back of Keith's pants, and he wiggled his hips. Keith started to undo his jeans when Lance put his hands on Keith's, looking up at him in concern.

“You know we don't have to, right? Like… that's not all I want,” he said.

Keith nodded. “I know. I trust you, Lance.”

Keith was about to dive back in for a kiss, but he was suddenly struck with inspiration. He pecked Lance's lips before sliding off his lap and reaching under his bed. He pulled out a box and brought it over, putting it down on his bed.

“Weird box,” he hummed, putting his hand on the lid. “D’you mind?”

Keith gestured to the box with a coy smile. Lance raised an eyebrow before taking off the lid, and he had found treasure: it was almost filled with sex toys. Lance bit his lip, rifling around through the toys and feeling a little lost. He didn't know half of what he was looking at, but it at least _looked_ cool.

“See anything you like?” Keith asked. “You can use whatever you want.”

“Wait, really?” Lance grinned.

There was so much in the box, he didn't even know where to start. He pulled out rope, vibrators, butt plugs… what was he supposed to do with this? Then, an idea entered his mind.

“Okay, get naked for me then lie down on your front for me,” Lance hummed.

Keith looked confused but he nodded. He pulled off his shirt, then his jeans came off with his underwear. He got on the bed, laying on his front as instructed. Lance gently grabbed his wrist, pulling it behind Keith's back.

“Are you good with being tied up?” Lance asked.

“Yeah,” Keith nodded.

He grinned. Alright, that was stage one. He held the rope in this hands, hesitating before tying Keith up. It wasn't anything fancy - Lance wasn't that experienced or talented - but it did the trick. The knots weren't too loose, and Keith's movement was restricted: it did exactly what Lance wanted.

He tugged on the rope, checking it, before flipping Keith over on his front. Lance smiled down at him, cupping his face. God, Keith was so cute. Lance kissed him, his other hand trailing down Keith's chest to his stomach. He shuddered under the touch.

“You're gorgeous,” Lance breathed.

Keith turned pink, before glancing away. “Then go out with me.”

Lance paused. Did Keith really ask that, or were his ears playing tricks on him? He laughed weakly, unsure how to respond.

“Did you really just ask me that right now, when you're tied up on my bed?” Lance asked. If he played it as a joke, maybe it would have been funny if he was wrong.

“Oh my God,” Keith grumbled, trying to roll away. “That just came out. I didn't mean to--”

“Yeah. Okay. I'll go out with you,” Lance said with a nod.

Keith blinked up at him, before sighing in relief with a smile. Lance leaned down to press kisses to his face, before pulling away with a smirk.

“I'm gonna make this the best birthday ever, just you watch.”

Lance kissed Keith's neck again, kissing his way down his body, and each kiss earned a little sound from Keith. Lance moved down to his crotch and cupped Keith's balls, rolling them in his palm. Keith jerked his hips up as he threw his head back down onto the best.

He held Keith's semi in his free hand and stroked it slowly, and Keith groaned. Absolutely gorgeous. Lance dragged his tongue against the underside of his dick, before taking the tip into his mouth. He swirled his tongue around the head, and Keith tried to thrust into his mouth, whining.

“Lance,” he sighed, looking at him with half-lidded eyes.

Keith whined, wiggling his hips for more friction. Lance ran his hands up and down Keith's thighs, admiring him. He kissed Keith’s upper thighs, looking up at him for his reaction.

“Man, you're impatient,” Lance tutted.

“Fuck,” he hissed, “I need you.”

“Yeah?” Lance hummed. “How do you want me?”

Keith jerked his hips up. “I want you to fuck me.”

That was enough for Lance. Biting his lip, he sat up again and reached over for the lube and a condom in his bedside table. He would have left Keith hanging for longer, but he was horny. He squirted some onto his fingers, grimacing at the cold sensation, before pressing one to Keith’s ass. Lance pressed it against the entrance, but didn’t ease it in, not yet.

“Are you gonna beg for it?” Lance asked.

“You--” Keith hissed. “Please, just fuck me. With your fingers, your dick - anything.”

Lance eased in a finger, and Keith rolled his head back with a moan. “Good boy.”

He eased in another finger, and Keith shuddered. He thrust his fingers into Keith’s ass slowly, and bent down to kiss him softly. Keith moaned into the kiss, raising his hips for more. With his free hand, Lance undid his jeans and wiggled out of them, then kicked them to the floor. He hadn’t bothered to put on underwear - he was just running to the store. Good thing he didn't bother.

“I don’t wanna wait anymore,” Lance sighed, pulling his fingers out. “I need you.”

He ripped open the foil of the condom, rolling it over his dick. Lance applied a little more lube to his dick - better safe than sorry - before pressing it against Keith’s ass. Keith rolled his hips and bit his lip.

“Are you gonna do it, or are you all talk?” Keith asked.

Lance grabbed Keith’s hips. “You tell me.”

He eased in his dick, shuddering, and Keith sunk back into the mattress. Lance fucked him slow but hard, and with each thrust, Lance’s hips slapped against Keith’s thighs. Keith shuddered as he moved his hips in time with Lance.

“Fuck,” Keith whined.

Lance slid a hand up Keith’s side, up to his chest. He ghosted a thumb over Keith’s nipple and watched his eyes flutter shut with a heavy sigh. Lance pressed his lips to his neck, grazing his teeth against his skin.

“You’re gorgeous,” Lance moaned into his ear, “I’ve waited so long to do this with you.”

“Then fuck me like you mean it,” Keith said.

Keith really was demanding. Lance gripped his hips tightly and angled his hips better, upping his rhythm. Keith groaned, and his breathing turned ragged. His lips parted, huffing his breaths as he tugged against his restraints. Lance smiled.

“Want me to free you?” he asked, and pulled at the rope.

Keith shook his head. “I'm okay.”

Keith moaned with every thrust, and Lance knew he was close. He rolled his hips and tugged hard at the restraints. Keith gasped softly, though he bit his lip to quiet his noises.

“You're the best,” Lance whispered, before diving down to kiss him.

Keith groaned into the kiss, his hips suddenly jerking up, as he hit his climax. Lance gripped his hips tightly and fucked him desperately, losing all sense of rhythm. It didn't take long for Lance to finish, groaning as he came. Shuddering, he pulled out, then discarded the condom.

“So, uh… did you mean it?” Lance asked.

“What, about going out?” Keith mumbled, trying to roll away again. This was a lot more difficult when tied up. “Yeah.”

“Then I meant my yes, Keith,” Lance said, shuffling behind Keith. He pressed kisses to the back of his neck.

Keith sighed, relaxing in the affection. He scooted a little closer, and Lance finally untied him. Keith whimpered, slowly moving his arms and torso. Lance ran his hands where the rope had dug in, before pulling Keith in for a hug.

“I really like you,” Keith said quietly, facing away from Lance.

Lance sighed, content. “I like you too, Keith. I don't just want you for sex, I want you for you.”

Keith held Lance's hand with a content hum. “Yeah, I know that now.”

Lance buried his face in Keith's hair, inhaling deeply. He smelled of strawberries, and Lance couldn't get enough of it.

“Happy birthday, man.”

Keith laughed softly. “This is probably the best birthday I've ever had.”

“Seriously?” Lance didn't know whether he should have been frowning or not.

Keith went quiet for a moment and awkwardly shuffled in Lance's arms. He knew he'd fucked up, but before he could apologise, Keith spoke again.

“My dad's always busy, so I never made my birthday a big deal. And I didn't have many friends growing up, so…” he mumbled.

Lance kissed the back of his head. “And now I'm here.”

He nodded. “You are.”

Keith settled in his arms, as comfortable as a cat by a radiator. He was so cute - Lance couldn't wait to find out everything about him.

“Just you wait til Christmas,” Lance said with a grin.

Keith sighed. “Oh boy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What oh God how has it been this long without an update? ... oh I know why because I have 0 confidence writing NSFW lmaooo. I considered just not writing the NSFW side anymore just to get an update out. ... I might still do that.
> 
> Come check out my [Tumblr](http://vehicroids.tumblr.com), even though I... can't remember the last VLD I reblogged. Hm.


	7. Chapter 7

It was strange getting ready for a date when Lance lived with the guy he was going out with. He was used to getting ready alone, with his roommate poking fun of how ridiculous he looked as he pulled faces in the mirror. This time, Keith could make fun of how he looked instead. He looked over at Lance while he was brushing his hair with a little smile.

“Cute,” he said.

“Cute? Just cute? Aw man, now I've gotta get changed,” Lance whined before rifling through his drawers.

“I'm not sure why you're trying to impress me. I've seen you naked.”

Lance looked over from his drawers. “That does not sound like a compliment.”

Keith laughed, and Lance huffed, turning away. He looked down at himself. He wasn't unimpressive, was he? No way, otherwise Keith would have said something way sooner. Lance rolled his eyes, before changing into a better outfit. He turned around, arms outstretched to show off, and Keith gasped in amazement. Perfect reaction.

They were going somewhere that wasn't too expensive, but the food was good. That was all Lance cared about - that, and the fact he was going out with Keith. It was a shame Keith lived with him, because he had no way to show his excitement leading up to the date without looking weird. Instead, he harassed a poor unsuspecting Hunk with text after text. If he didn't have Lance's number blocked before, he did now, as he had long stopped responding.

Lance passed a comb through his hair, humming to himself. He was nervous, but he didn't know why. Keith was right, Lance didn't have to impress him. However, it was still a date, and Lance wanted to make his best effort. This could be how Keith realises he and Lance shouldn't be together and he runs off with someone else if Lance messed up badly enough. Lance frowned at himself - he really was paranoid.

He sprayed himself with a couple of squirts of cologne, and finally, Lance felt ready. Or rather, he was as ready as he was going to get. He shot finger guns into the mirror, and Keith laughed.

“Alright, I see you're ready,” Keith said.

Lance laughed nervously, running his fingers through his hair. Crap, he messed up his hair. He checked the mirror and quickly recombed his hair, and he finally looked perfect. He turned back to Keith with a smile, who laughed at him again.

The disadvantage to being a poor college student was not having a car. The advantage to college was businesses weren't stupid - of course the cheap restaurants and bars would be located within walking distance of campus and dorms. Another positive of walking was that Lance could seamlessly slip his hand into Keith's. Keith froze for a moment, before tangling his fingers with Lance's.

His heart was doing cartwheels and backflips - he hoped his hand wasn't as clammy and disgusting as he felt it was. If it was, then Keith didn't say anything. Lance rubbed the back of Keith's hand with his thumb, smiling to himself.

In the waning light, Lance couldn't see Keith well. He could just about make out a small smile, and the lighting made it seem like Keith was blushing. Lance had seen him blush before, but it made his heart thump every time. He was so cute, and Lance was so lucky.

They arrived at the restaurant and were seated fairly quickly. Lance looked over the menu - considering he had nearly nothing in his bank account, this all looked ridiculously expensive. He couldn't ask Keith to foot the whole bill, not since Keith had taken a break from work. Maybe Lance could grab a soda and call that dinner, perhaps treat himself to fries. That was cheap, right?

“Why do you look terrified?” Keith asked, looking over his menu at Lance. “Stop looking at the prices and order whatever you want.”

“I'm not that hungry.”

“Since when are you not hungry? Seriously, it's fine.”

Lance knew he had been called out. What was the cheapest item on the menu? Pasta - that would do. Keith eyed him up suspiciously, but said nothing. When the waitress came to take their order, Keith ordered the same as Lance. He waited until it was just them again before leaning closer.

“So you tell me to order whatever, but you still go for cheap?” Lance asked.

“I like pasta, and I was gonna pick that anyway. Money isn't an issue, Lance.”

“Oh, hey, so you're my sugar daddy!” he said, grinning.

Keith stared at him. “Don't ever say those words to me again.”

Lance laughed and took a sip of his soda. He looked around - the restaurant was strangely empty. He leaned close and kept his voice low.

“Speaking of money… what about the, uh…” Lance said, grimacing as he fought to find the words.

“Akira,” Keith said plainly. “I don't know. I guess that now there's maybe you, I can't.”

Maybe. Lance didn't like that word when it was about their relationship. He took another sip, hiding his frown.

“Why can't you?” Lance asked. “I don't care, man. It's sort of how we met. Plus, I know you need the money.”

“... really?” Keith chewed his lip nervously.

“Yeah. Is that what was stopping you? Because it shouldn't.”

Keith smiled, a little embarrassed, then reached over to grab Lance's hand. He was so cute. Lance squeezed his hand, and did not let go until food arrived.

Dinner was uneventful - Lance cared more about dinner than light conversation. Luckily, the feeling was mutual. The food was decent and the portion sizes were impressive. No wonder it appeared a little pricey; Lance wouldn't need to eat for a week.

They decided against dessert - there was no point spending more money when they could get cake from the store or something. After paying the bill, they left the restaurant hand in hand. They didn't want to rush back to the dorms, and instead took a slow stroll back.

“I've been meaning to tell you,” Keith said, leaning against him as they walked. “The art department is holding a little art exhibit, and uh… my photos are gonna be on display.”

Under the light of street lamps, Lance saw Keith's little proud smile. He released Keith's hand, instead holding his hip and pulling him closer.

“That's great news!” Lance said.

“It is. And I was wondering if you'd come and see them?”

Lance wasn't the artsy type, but for Keith?

“Yeah! You didn't even need to ask.”

Lance would have done anything for Keith - he was in too deep.

\--

On the days leading up to the exhibit, Keith was restless. He didn't sleep very well, or for very long, and kept Lance awake most nights with his near constant tossing and turning. Lance had been tempted to throw something at him to make him stop, but it wouldn't have worked. Boy, was it tempting, though. Even with headphones in, Keith woke him up.

Lance had to do something however, especially when Keith could not stop. Lance rolled onto his side, facing Keith. There was only one thing he could do.

“Keith?” he whispered.

“I'm awake. I still can't sleep. What?” Keith sighed.

“Okay, I could tell you can't sleep. You haven't been able to sleep in, like, a week.” That was met with a groan of disapproval. “C’mere.”

There was a brief pause, before Keith shuffled out of his bed and over to Lance. He pulled the blanket away, letting Keith flop onto his bed before bringing the blanket back down. Keith snuggled close, and Lance hugged him.

“At this point, we should share a bed every night,” Lance said with a snort.

Keith nudged him, but laughed. It wasn't a yes, but it wasn't a no. Lance rubbed his back and kissed his forehead - he could feel Keith relax. He buried his face in Lance's chest, which he thought was adorable.

After what felt like an eternity, Keith fell asleep. When Keith drifted off, so did Lance, finally able to rest.

The day of the exhibit could not come soon enough. That was what Lance thought until the day was finally here, and Keith was easier to irritate than usual. Lance tried to stay out of his way, which was difficult when living with him; he felt like he was constantly underfoot.

The exhibit started at 1pm - it worked well with Lance's classes, smushed right in between them. He didn't know how crowded it would be, and how much people really cared about art and photography. If it wasn't for Keith, Lance wouldn't have been there: it would likely be snobs and snobs’ loved ones, with a sprinkling of people who cared about art and other regular people.

Lance grabbed something quick for lunch before he rushed over - he wouldn't miss this for the world. When he arrived, they were asking for small donations before entering. Lance groaned as he shoved a dollar at them, then pushed through. He had better things to worry about than paying for entry - who tried to shake money out of college students?

Art was a strange, scary place. He saw art where things melted, used ‘angry’ colour schemes, or simply baffled Lance. He scratched his head as he looked around. This was not where he belonged, and it showed. He was a piece of driftwood in a sea of art connoisseurs, going with the flow and hoping he would not go under.

He looked around, trying to see past the strange art to spot Keith. It was difficult, the bright colours and strange shapes distracting Lance, but eventually, he saw the most perfect piece of art - Keith. Lance stopped for a moment - was that too corny a thought? Yes, but no one else was going to know what he was thinking.

Lance rushed over to Keith. He was looking around, fiddling with his sleeves with a frown. He brightened up immediately when he saw Lance, who immediately scooped him into a hug. Keith made a noise, but he relaxed, throwing his arms around Lance.

“Thanks for coming,” Keith mumbled into his shoulder.

“You kidding? I don't wanna miss your big moment,” Lance said, grinning.

Keith laughed nervously, a quiet chuckle in Lance's shoulder. He pulled away and gestured to the wall. Lance looked over, and he recognised the photos. A couple Keith had taken while they were out - photos Keith thought were good, but not good enough by themselves. But that wasn't all of them.

Then there were photos of Lance. Nothing was showing, nothing nude and nothing that would identify him. Keith wasn't looking at the photos, nor at Lance, and he could see why. A part of Lance wanted to take them down, embarrassed, but he remembered why this was beautiful to Keith. Lance smiled - Keith was so soft hearted, and Lance was starting to learn how soft he was inside.

Lance stepped behind Keith and wrapped his arms around him, resting his head on his shoulder. Keith put his hands on Lance's, relaxing back into him. Lance kissed his temple, rocking them both.

“I'm proud of you. It's gotta be scary putting your art out there,” Lance whispered into his ear.

“You have no idea.”

Lance kissed his face, and Keith closed his eyes. He squeezed him gently. When more people started coming over, Lance let him go, but kept hold of his hand. He really, really hoped no one would recognise that the guy in the photos was him. He didn't want to have an uncomfortable conversation with strangers about his body.

Lance had to leave Keith for his classes, though he didn't want to. Lance kissed his cheek before leaving - he hoped Keith would be alright. He wasn't a baby, but Lance was anxious about leaving Keith when he was so nervous.

It was a couple of hours before Lance was freed from his classes again. He decided to check out the exhibit one last time before going home, just in case Keith was still around. After getting hassled for another dollar - he didn't know what it was for, but it did make him mad - he moved through the exhibit. He found Keith, who stood up straighter this time.

“Hey!” Lance said, before kissing his nose. “How is it going?”

“Great. People liked the photos,” Keith said.

“You did always have an eye for shots and stuff.”

Lance didn't know what he was talking about and, frankly, he wasn't going to try and learn. He looked over at the photos, and realised a lot of people had seen him naked. While the shots were tasteful and his dick wasn't on show, it was a lot to have on display. Was this how Keith felt on camera? It was different doing things for one person compared to showing it to strangers by posting it online or in public.

Lance didn't mind that much, he simply wasn't expecting it. He wished he knew beforehand, but it was too late now. He wondered what people thought. Was he attractive? Was he just another twink? If anything, Lance was at least a good looking twink.

“If you stare any harder at those photos, they'll catch on fire,” Keith said. “What's wrong?”

He frowned at Lance. He glanced between Keith and the photos, tugging on his sleeve.

“Did,” Lance gulped, lowering his voice, “did anyone say anything?”

Keith shrugged. “No, not really. They asked about my relationship with you, but that's it.”

That caught Lance's interest. “What did you tell them?”

Keith shifted uncomfortably. “I didn't know what to say, so I called you my boyfriend.”

Lance paused as the information sunk in. When it did, he grabbed Keith and squeezed him. Keith gasped, letting out a strangled groan, but succumbed to his fate. At this point, he knew better than to fight against Lance's affection.

“Boyfriend,” Lance said with a hum. “I like boyfriend.”

Keith pulled away to look up at Lance. “You don't mind?”

“No. I even think you should call me that more often.”

Lance grinned at Keith, who took a second too long to understand what Lance was saying. He opened his mouth, closed it, then hummed. Keith held Lance's face, then pulled him in for a soft kiss. He melted into the kiss, placing his hands on Keith's hips.

“Boyfriend,” Keith said. “You're my boyfriend.”

He smiled and laughed lightly as he said the word. Lance laughed with him - Keith was adorable.

“And you're mine now, that's how it works, no take backs,” Lance said.

“Wouldn't wanna.”

Lance wanted to scoop him up and adorn his face with kisses. Instead, he squeezed Keith like a tube of toothpaste. Keith laughed a little, before kissing the end of his nose. Lance had always wanted to date Akira, but dating Keith was way better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Birth Keith! I'm a lil drunk as I post this lmaooo this was edited sober I swear.
> 
> Uh, hiatus next month for NaNoWriMo. Sorry about that :'D
> 
> Come harass me on [Tumblr!](http://vehicroids.tumblr.com)


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> /SLAMS DOOR GUYS HOLY FUCK
> 
> Check out this art from [Milán!](http://refinedgluttony.tumblr.com/post/179587502073/for-vehicroids-klance-fic-applause-sorry-it-took) (and a [Twitter link](https://twitter.com/refinedgluttony/status/1057268320699891717))
> 
> I'll add a link to the beginning of the fic too!! I'm seriously grateful!! I wanted to share this when I updated the fic, I swear I did NOT forget!!

Thanksgiving was coming up, a fact that Lance's mother badgered him about. She asked him if he had a girlfriend yet. Lance didn't want to answer, but silence was suspicious. Instead, he laughed pathetically.

“No girlfriend,” Lance said.

Not because he couldn't get a girl, but because he didn't want girls at the moment. His mother sighed on the other end, disappointed. Lance didn't know what she was hoping for - a grandchild while he was in college? No way.

“Oh baby, I'm sure a girl would love you,” she said sympathetically.

“I don't want one.”

Silence. The words spilled before Lance had a chance to think about it. He wondered if his phone had died and she didn't hear, but the call was still active. He hovered his finger over  _ end call _ , and his mother's voice piped up again.

“... boys.”

It sounded like an accusation. Her voice was sharp, and Lance didn't know if she was angry, disappointed,  _ both _ . His throat was dry and he nodded, whimpering like a kicked dog.

“Boy,” he corrected through the cracks of his voice.

Another pause. “What's his name?”

“Keith?”

He wasn't sure why he spoke with an upward inflection - it wasn't a question. He tugged on the bottom of his shirt. He waited for his mother to yell on the other end, to give a bigger reaction, but she didn't. She said nothing for hours. Lance almost wanted to cry.

“Oh, baby,” she sighed. “Why didn't you tell me?”

“I don't know.”

Lance did know. He had a family full of Catholics, and not one of them were any flavour of gay or trans. Just Lance, who was now the gay cousin. Now, he felt like a spotlight was over him, burning him. He didn't want that.

He pulled his knees to his chest, leaning his chin over them. In part, he was relieved that it was out there. Mostly, Lance wanted to tear himself apart. He wanted his mom to react one way or another, yet still, she was calm about it. He wanted her to yell. He needed  _ something _ from her.

She made a noise like she was about to speak, but hesitated. She clicked her tongue and tried again.

“I understand if you don't want to come home for Thanksgiving,” she said. Her voice was shaky, unsure, searching for the words. “But I'd love you to come home, and I'm sure if Keith is special to you, we'll love him too.”

Lance swallowed the lump in his throat. He hadn't realised he was crying until he felt a dampness on his jeans. He sniffled, quickly wiping his eyes, before flopping onto his back.

“I love you no matter who you are, and no matter who you decide to be,” she said.

“Thanks, Mom.”

Lance was lucky - luckier than a lot of people, at least. He didn't know how the rest of his family would react, but that was a problem for later. If he even went home for Thanksgiving. He doubted he would; Lance didn't want to out himself to his whole family. Hell, he didn't even mean to out himself to his mom, it just happened.

He didn't know how he would ask Keith about it. He didn't really want to bring it up - how could he tell Keith he wanted to bring him to a home potentially full of homophobes? He could have gone alone, but then he would be too terrified of the family judging him.

There was no winning.

Keith came home, and Lance was still laying on his bed, deflated like an old balloon animal. Keith put down his keys and backpack, before staring at Lance.

“What?” Keith said.

“I came out to my mom, and I don't know how to feel,” Lance mumbled. Keith's face fell. “No, don't worry. She took it well enough to invite us over for Thanksgiving.”

Lance wasn't going to tell Keith that he hoped he would say no. There was a pensive look on Keith's face as he sat down on his own bed. He kicked off his shoes, then laid down.

“I usually go see my dad for Thanksgiving,” Keith said.

“Oh, darn, means we can't go. I'll tell my mom.”

“What? No, that's not what I'm saying. I'll tell my dad I can't make it this year.”

Panic. That wasn't what Lance wanted at all. He gulped and sat up. He smiled sweetly at Keith.

“You shouldn't cancel on your dad. You should go,” Lance said.

“Why.” Keith frowned hard at him. “Let me guess, you're embarrassed of me.”

“I mean, I was more thinking potentially homophobic family, but you know.”

Keith paused. Lance laid back down, and they both stared up at ceiling. Keith was still defensive, but Lance figured that would take some time to get rid of. Keith looked over at Lance.

“I'm sorry. I don't wanna leave you here, so if you wanted, you could come with me to my dad's,” Keith said. “You don't have to.”

“Dude, yeah! And we can always call my mom or something,” Lance said.

Keith smiled brightly, a smile that Lance echoed. It faded as Lance realised what this meant; he was meeting the family. It was just Keith's dad, but it was still his family. Lance wanted to die. He was going to make an ass out of himself for sure.

***

Keith's dad didn't live too far away, thankfully. They took the bus to his dad's early on Wednesday morning, giving them plenty of time to get there. Lance watched the scenery crawl by, his cheek against the glass. Keith leaned against him, and Lance draped an arm around him.

Lance felt sick, and he didn't know if he was travel sick or sick from nerves. It didn't help that this bus was old and rickety. Lance felt every rumble in his core, rattling his bones. Every change of gear made an awful grinding noise. Lance wanted out.

He fiddled with the fabric of his seat, until eventually, the seam gave under his fingers. He poked into awful, squishy foam and grimaced. Lance's hand sat firmly on his lap, instead fiddling with the creases on his jeans.

“You need a car,” Lance mumbled.

If either of them could have afforded a car, it would have been Keith. He chuckled, shuffling to sit up.

“You can't pull the stuffing out of my car seat, though.”

Keith looked pointedly at the yellow mass by Lance's feet. Lance kicked the offending foam away with a nervous laugh.

“Okay, yeah, but can you blame me?” Lance asked.

Keith snorted. “When you meet my dad, you'll see there's nothing to worry about.”

Lance doubted that. His hand instinctively reached for the foam again, but Keith stared at his hand, and Lance stopped. He went back to gripping the fabric on top of his knees.

By the afternoon, they finally reached their destination. They hovered around the bus station, looking around, until Keith's gaze settled on one man. Keith smiled, before rushing over and Lance followed.

The man stood tall over both of them, like a giant tower of a man. He had muscles the size of Lance's head - contrasting against Keith's twiggier figure was a shock. The man looked nothing like Keith. Was this really his dad? He looked like he could crush Lance with a thought.

“Dad, this is Lance,” Keith said, confirming Lance's thoughts. “Lance, this is my dad, Kenneth.”

Lance swallowed. He held his shaking hand out for Kenneth to take, but his hand was brushed away. Before he could ask, Kenneth grabbed him in a bone crushing hug. Lance squeaked, feeling more like a chew toy in a dog's mouth than a person.

“I-- nice to meet you, Mr Kogane,” he managed to choke out.

“Please, call me Kenneth,” he said.

Lance had met him before when Keith had moved in, though his focus at the time was not on Kenneth. Not that Lance knew that was his dad, either; the man looked too young, and acted too chirpy. Lance glanced at Keith, and the more he looked, the more he realised Keith and Kenneth had nothing in common.

They piled into Kenneth's rusty old car; it sputtered as he tried to ignite the engine. He sat in the backseat by himself, feeling more like a criminal than anything. Lance couldn't wait to get out of the car. He felt stifled. He pulled on his collar, suffocating in the heat of the car. He shrugged off his jacket, throwing it on the seat beside him.

The trip back was painful. Keith never talked much to begin with, Lance was begging for an escape, and Kenneth was a wild card. Keith barely talked about his dad, and Lance had no idea what to expect. He turned the radio up high, the empty silence filling instead with terrible music.

Lance looked out to the road. If he tucked and rolled here, would he die?

He never got a chance to test his hypothesis. Before long, they pulled up to the Kogane house. It looked like an old farm house, and they were far away enough from civilisation. Lance remembered suddenly: conspiracy theorist. Hopefully, Kenneth wouldn't make them put tinfoil over their heads or something.

Stepping in, the house was strangely normal - homely, even. It was decorated like an old farmhouse: wooden furnishings, wooden flooring, and a fireplace. Lance wondered how nothing set on fire. The lights above looked new, little spotlights shimmering like stars. Keith tugged on his arm.

“We're just gonna get settled and get showered,” Keith said.

If Kenneth caught a second meaning, he didn't say anything. The two boys walked up stairs, and Lance was unbearably aware of his steps creaking on the wooden steps. Keith led the way to his room, through the first door at the top.

They dropped their backpacks, and Lance got a chance to glance around. Photos hung like tinsel on the ceiling, reminding Lance of their dorm. He looked over the photos; a lot of Kenneth, some other guy, a woman and a girl. Keith didn't look at Lance while Lance was snooping.

“What's with…”

The words died on his tongue, but he was certain Keith didn't need him to elaborate. He moved to where Lance was standing and pointed at the figures.

“Shiro. He's…” Keith shook his head. “That's my mom, and my… my sister.”

“You said you didn't have siblings,” Lance said.

Keith shifted uncomfortably. “She's my half sister. It's weird talking about it.”

Looking at the two women, Lance could definitely see where Keith came from. He looked nothing like Kenneth, but these two women were definitely his family. He chuckled lightly as he spotted a candid picture of his mom, scowling.

“Look, it's the same face you pull!”

Keith batted him away. “Knock it off.”

There was no hiding the little smile on his face. Lance wanted to ask more, but something told him not to. Keith gestured to the door.

“Come on, let's get showered.”

Lance expected it to be sexy, but it wasn't. Lather, rinse, break for a cuddle in the stream, repeat. As soon as they were done, they dried off and slipped into lazy clothes, before coming downstairs. Kenneth was getting dressed, but he smiled at the two boys. He put a hand on Keith's shoulder.

“I'll see you tomorrow,” he said. “You boys behave yourselves, you hear?”

“Yeah, Dad. Have a good day at work.”

Kenneth nodded, before heading out the door. This left Keith and Lance all by themselves in the house. Lance settled on the couch, and Keith put the fire on. Wait, the fireplace used real fire? Oh, that was romantic. Keith sat down next to Lance.

“It's just us,” Keith reminded him.

Was Keith hinting? Lance needed to play it cool. “Yeah, looks like it.”

This was met with a disappointing hum. Keith shuffled closer - if he was any closer, he would be in Lance's lap.  _ Oh _ . Lance put his hands on Keith's hips, bringing him to sit on his lap.

“I've always wanted to have sex by a fireplace,” Lance grinned.

“Yeah?” Keith leaned in close to Lance's ear. “Me too.”

The way Keith whispered sent sparks down Lance's body. His mouth turned dry. Fuck, Lance wanted him so much already. Keith kissed his ear, taking the lobe between his teeth and eliciting a small gasp from Lance.

It should have been embarrassing to get an erection from so little, but it was Keith; the slightest touch drove Lance wild. Keith ran his hands up Lance's chest, before pressing their chests together. His breath hitched. Everything felt heady and thick in this house, new and fresh.

A flash of guilt passed through his mind: they shouldn't do this at Keith's dad's house. The thought was silenced with Keith's teeth on his neck. He didn't want to fight this.

Lance bucked his hips, sliding his crotch against Keith's. A satisfying moan escaped his lips, and Lance needed more. He could never have enough. He rolled his head back as Keith peppered kisses to his jaw, his lips turning Lance to putty beneath him.

Lance groped Keith's ass, squeezing it through his sweatpants. He shuddered against Lance's neck, the warm breath sending jolts through his body. He rolled his head back, and Keith kissed more of his neck. Every kiss was heaven, pulling a fresh moan from Lance.

Keith couldn't have been human, not with the way he made Lance feel. He was nothing but a puddle under Keith's touches, whimpering and moaning his name. All he could focus on was Keith's hands, his mouth,  _ him _ . Keith was absolutely perfect.

Lance dug his nails into Keith's back as he came, his hips jerking forward and his eyes fluttered shut. Keith looked so damn proud of himself as Lance cleaned himself up, grumbling. Keith laughed, before flopping down onto Lance, who looped his arms around his boyfriend.

Everything felt so right with Keith, so perfect. Maybe one day, Lance would find the guts to tell his family about Keith.

***

Keith and Lance woke up early to start on Thanksgiving dinner. Kenneth hadn't long gotten home, but he went straight to bed. They didn't expect him to make dinner for today.

As Lance reluctantly chopped vegetables, he realised it was better to be here for Thanksgiving than dragging Keith to his mom's house. What would Kenneth eat without them? Probably a can of beans, from the looks of things in the cupboards. For a holiday, that seemed sad to Lance.

Admittedly, Lance didn't know what he was doing. Keith, on the other hand, was a master. Lance felt like he was only there to keep Keith company, and not to help him cook. Keith looked so cute with his face scrunched up in focus.

“You'd make a great husband,” Lance said.

Keith looked up at him, a blush burning his cheeks. Lance realised immediately what he said, and wished he could stab himself in the stomach.

“I-- I'm not proposing! We barely know each other. Plus, I'd get you something way better than chopped carrots,” he said, laughing awkwardly. “I just mean you're such a great cook.”

Keith stared at him, before breaking into a soft laugh. Lance smiled; no matter what, that laugh melted every part of him inside.

“Thanks. With my dad working weird shifts, I kinda learned how to cook by myself.”

Lance couldn't imagine not having parents around. Then again, he couldn't imagine any part of Keith's family life being real. Keith took the vegetables from Lance, and that marked the end of the conversation.

Kenneth woke up not long before Keith would be serving up dinner - which was more like lunch, but Kenneth had work that night. Lance had given up on trying to help him cook, but he could at least put the coffee burner on for Kenneth. They both sat in the living room; Kenneth was reading, and Lance was on his phone.

Lance wasn't a nervous guy - he could talk to anyone and not get anxious. There was something different about  _ meeting the family _ that put his stomach on edge. Lance kept glancing up from his phone to look at Kenneth. He was about to slink off when Kenneth started talking.

“Keith's told me all about you,” Kenneth said. Lance sank into the couch. “Don't think I've seen him this happy in a long time.”

Lance didn't know what to say to that. He drummed on his knees, pushing his calves against the front of the couch.

“Uh, yeah.” Lance swallowed. “He's a really nice guy.”

Did Kenneth even know what Lance was to Keith? Lance didn't know. Maybe they were two bros being dudes to Kenneth. Lance looked down at his phone again.

“It's nice that he's found himself a nice fella,” Kenneth said.

That answered his question. Lance smiled, nodding dumbly. Kenneth smiled at him over his newspaper, before hiding his face once again. Lance didn't know what to talk about; Keith refused to talk about family. Wait a second.

“Keith doesn't talk about his family, so I don't know anything about him. I only found out he's got a half sister from a photo,” Lance said.

Kenneth frowned. “Yep, that's Keith. Won't share a peep until it's important. Just like Krolia.”

Something about that made Lance shrink, but he couldn't figure out what. Before he could press further, Keith was calling them into the other room for dinner. Lance couldn't wait to tear his way through the turkey - his stomach was screaming for food.

Dinner - lunch? Dinner? Linner - was quiet, too hungry to care about sharing what they were grateful for. If Lance did have something he was thankful for, it was his love of pornography, mixed in with lucky roommate arrangements. Otherwise, he was certain they would have never gotten to this point.

Lance's phone rang partway through linner, which he ignored. When it rang again, he realised it must have been important It was his mom. He couldn't answer her, not with the horror brewing in his stomach like a potion of misery.

Keith looked up curiously when Lance stopped eating, but he shook his head. If it was guaranteed to just be his mom on the phone, fine. However, he knew it wouldn't be - his mom would have told his family everything. Maybe they could pray his gay away together.

Not happening.

Instead, he dug back into linner and pretended it never happened. He would face his mom's wrath eventually for this, but that would be a problem for later. For now, he wanted to enjoy this moment while it lasted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it's been... two months? NaNo kicked my ass. Dealing with burn out. This isn't even in season anymore, sorry bout that. Should be two more chapters left, I think? I kinda tossed my plan in the trash a while ago :'D ;;;; sorry. I'm so so tired and it's so so hard to write atm oops!
> 
> Come check out my [Tumblr!](http://vehicroids.tumblr.com) Ignore the fact that I haven't touched VLD in a while


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